More of the same

This was posted to Facebook in response to a dear relative who was victimized by her employer, as many have been, by having her hours cut to just below the minumum number weekly to qualify for employer provided health care insurance. She blames this on the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care plan and alludes to other "flaws" without any specifics. This is far from a new phenomena, as Walmart figured out over ten years ago that it was cheaper to hire more workers for fewer hours and deny benefits. Now a wave of the same stuff is happening, this time because corporations see the opportunity to cut costs and blame it on the President and the Affordable Care Act.

     Dear ***** - The businesses cutting hours is not a fault of the plan,. It's been going on for decades, this is just another example of why trusting corporations to do the right thing is a fool's task. If they can save money and blame someone else, the temptation is simply irresistable! If you even tried to tell business who they had to hire and for how many hours, that would be even worse. Other than that, what specifically is wrong? I ask because a recent informal poll showed that while many said they didn't like "Obamacare", they thought the "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" was a great idea.  They are one and the same thing! My point being that some of the most vocal critics, whose voices are heard all over media and the press, have three things in common: 1 - they hate anything that threatens profits of insurance corporations, who pour literally billions in lobbying fees into their coffers, 2 - The vast majority of them already have high end healthcare insurance and are above the issue, and 3 - they really hate the President for reasons having little to do with healthcare and far more to do with race.

     Think about all the predictions made after the first Obama election - "He'll take our guns" for a start. Ignorant folks blame the man for what Congress does in some cases, and in others they blame him for shit they make up. I'll give several  examples and than let this alone. First: The Tea Partiers at one point circulated e-mails about all real estate transactions being taxed as part of the ACA. The law actually only calls for a small tax on PROFITS in excess of $350 K. Most of the idiots forwarding said e-mail can't count that high. Second, the same douchebags circulated all sorts of rumors, which people we both know passed along and still do, that the Obama administration started a free cellphone program to buy votes. In truth, the bill creating the partial subsidy for cell phone communication was passed and signed under the previous (Bush) administration.   Finally, these same people continue to harp on what they see as the President (not the Congress, mind you, the President) increasing welfare and giving away more money to "the undeserving" than ever before. Again, liars abound. Welfare as a percentage of GDP is actually lower than in the previous administration. The problem I have is when imbeciles like Sarah Palin use words like "death panels" (which don't and never will exist, and have never even been mentioned except by shitheads like her) ordinary people listen and assume she knows something they don't. As one of Michelle Bachmann's staffers who quit her campaign in disgust admitted, Bachmann, Palin and some others , Ted Cruz included, have no problem with saying things they know not to be true, because some idiots will believe it. This guy left Bachmann because they'd tell her what she was going to say was untrue, she would acknowledge that fact, and say it anyway.

      That is the disinformation machine we deal with in politics today. When you go to Politifact.org and look at their fact check (remember they are run by a conservative newspaper in Tampa) about 80% of the public political statements rated "Pants on Fire" (their polite term for absolute bullshit with no shred of proof)  are from the far right - 80%!!!