Happy Birthday Sesame Street

My daughter was a fan of Sesame Street and now her daughter is a fan; my son loved Cookie Monster; my grandaughter loves Elmo. I took her and my other grandaughter to see Elmo in person. I thought I was at a rock concert with 2-5 year olds doing the screaming.

So the question around the web is which character are you?

Some days I am Oscar the grouch like when the Senate is stalling on the passage of the health care reform bill and the public option without triggers. These people have the best health insurance possible. We pay for it. Don't we deserve to have some of that coverage for ourselves and our children? I am also Oscar when the House passed HCR with a public option (thank you) but sold out women to the conservative right in prohibiting the public option from covering abortions. Uh, excuse me but when was Roe vs Wade overturned? and when does one group over-ride the freedom for all?

Somedays I am a cross between Snuffleupagus (however you spell it), Elmo, with a touch of Ernie. Then there are somedays I'm Bert. Ah if life could only be so simple.

So which character are you?

House Vote Aye on Health Care Reform with Public option

Yeah its passed the house. Well done. Want to know who voted yes and no? Here is the link:http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/roll887.xml

Look it over carefully. Your calls and emails helped. There were 2 from my home state of MD who voted no. One is listed as Independent and that is how he ran but we all know he is a Republican.

Sad that only one Republican voted for the bill. Partisanship over constituent wishes. Enough said.

Don't Make More of it, than it is: what's "it"

Ah, much ado about nothing or something, depending on your perspective. Example: the Yankees won the World Series, congrats but most of the news on the Internet is about the recent 2 state governor's loss to Republicans and the so-called impact on Obama and pending legislation. BS! Local politics is local not national yet the media seem constantly to be searching for garbage to promote...negativism, who needs this? not me.

When Hillary Clinton was running against Barack Obama for President during primaries and Md Governor O'Malley endorsed her, that was the kiss of death for her in MD. Marylanders are not enthralled with Governor O'Malley, and I believe if the former Republican Governor, Bob Ehrlich were to run against O'Malley today, Ehrlich would win. Does his mean we don't endorse health care reform? No, in fact MD Is ahead of the game with low cost and free health care in state and certain counties. Does this mean, people in MD hate Obama? Not. Yet on most of TV Talk and media outlets the pontification of the impact of 2 Republicans taking over formerly Democratic Governorships is the talk. And it occurred on the anniversary of Obama's election. Spare me. Local is local. Period end.

Obama took over with a lot of issues. He started working before he became President. Is it perfect? No. Do I think he is doing a good job? Yes. Look at him. He is grayer and skinnier than before. He has a lot on his plate. Do I wish he would be more emphatic in his pushing on health care reform and public option? you bet. But given what predeeded him, I think Obama is doing very well. The media picks on everything. And the ponitificating is getting so intense that I only watch the Today Show and no news on TV. I get the news from the Internet and read several different articles to try and get one non-biased, factual story.

Thank goodness for reality shows that are non taxing, non ponticating, non life/death (though I cannot figure out why Top Chef had the reunion show in the middle of their hotly contested series). The good news is Project Runway is on tonight. Life is good.

But I can't close without my asking you to call your congress representative to make your voice heard on health care refom and your senators. Tell them you want this vote before the end of this year. Senator Reid now says vote won't occur before 2010. Not acceptable...45000 more people will die from no health insurance...a fact. And our Congress seems to always make more of something; make things more complicated than they have to be....when Medicare came into being, it took only 10 months not 3 years as Congress is proposing for health care reform. Can you live with this? I cannot. So here is the number once again to call either the House or Senate: 202 225-3121

Health care is a freedom and liberty. We don't have to make it complicated. If every other country can provide BETTER health care to all their citizens at no or low cost, certainly we, the USA can do it.  But then, that might just leave some politicians not getting millions of dollars to decide on how to vote. BS. Just do it.

Make the Most Important Call of Your Life

Here is the main number for Congress – the Senate and House – in Washington, DC. 202 225-3121

Call this number and ask to speak to YOUR  representative in the House. The House will be voting on their version of the health care reform bill on Monday or Tuesday. CALL TO SUPPORT THE PUBLIC OPTION with NO TRIGGERS. It's a matter of life or death.....


Then CALL Your Senator using the same number listed above and tell them to support the PUBLIC OPTION WITHOUT TRIGGERS.


Don't know who your representative is? Find out here:
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/directory/congdir.tt

It takes 2 minutes. Do it now. Then watch the voting on CSPAN.

More to come....

Life Goes On..the Next Chapter

Unless you are a good chef on Top Chef and have the weekly risk of being let go (when it should have been someone else, Robin), and maybe even if you are a Top Chef contestant, life does go on, fortunately. In addition to my Top Chef addiction, I am also addicted to Project Runway, and the Ravens football team, though wish they were doing better. Rambling? Probably, but I have time to ramble...this is my 6th month of being unemployed, which in and of itself, is a full time job.

 I am not alone...and, I have one more addiction for survival: bi-weekly "Rif" meetings with my former colleagues.

There are about 90 of us still unemployed who worked for the same company, and are in the same region geographically, who are staying connected. We have our own special group on Linked In, set up by a former employee that allows us to vent, stay connected, share tips and even job postings. And the more local of us, meet in person every 2 weeks, rotating at various Panera stores for breakfast (Panera, if you are reading this, how about discounts for the unemployed?) ..a theme that started at our former workplace....when we meet, we eat.

I am addicted to these sessions where my former colleagues, now friends, talk, share, laugh, cry, vent and give hope to each other. I don't know how I would survive without them. There is a bond that will last a lifetime. I have learned so much from all of them.

Lesson one: move on. When you get "let go" from a company, you go through a grieving process, sometimes with anger and disappointment. Sometimes the company you so admired doesn't seem to meet the same expectations in layoffs that they had when you worked for them. But it's really about you, not them.

Lesson two: make the effort to stay connected and share information. The company I worked for had a mission that included "sharing our (their) gifts with others". That meant, even helping competitors. Why? For the greater good.  It is a message I carry with me today.

Lesson three: everything happens for a reason. Yes there are regrets but learn from them to get to lesson one.

My former company recently filed for Chapter 11. And some of the former employees have not let go. They don't remember how good the company was to work for and how much they took care of the employees. Instead, they post on blogs and on news stories the negative comments that only demonstrate how disgruntled they are. Sad. And not helpful to them or the situation.

No one is perfect and neither is any business entity. But the economic downturn was and is difficult. And, many businesses did not believe it would get so bad. My advice? If you hate what happened, don't blame yourself of your company, call George Bush. Let him know.

Lesson four: get involved in something to make you feel good. Even if its joining an online community about a show you love. Stay connected and find the fun in life.

And if you are lucky enough to have children or grandchildren, enjoy the moments this time off from work affords you. Nothing makes life as good as seeing it through a child's eyes..the innocence of youth is too delicious. So I wish you well if you are struggling to find a job, know you are not alone and feel free to post your experiences here. Fortunately, life goes on.

Baucus still leads in moneys from insurers and more, a must read

If you do nothing else today, you must read Time Goes By today: http://www.timegoesby.net/weblog/2009/10/the-nonpublic-option.html to see the list of Senators taking money from pharma and insurance lobbyists. These are the same people who we elect to protect us. Hahahahaha.

If you do not read this blog today, at least go here to find out who in Congress is getting moneys from the insurers and pharma to control what kind of health insurance you and I get. Make note of those names. We can control this by not voting them in again if we do not get health insurance for all that is affordable. My own state of Maryland: Senator Mikulski accepted over $90,000 from healthcare and pharmaceutical product industry...not huge but why even bother? Senator Cardin accepted over $300,000 from health professionals, no insurers/pharma companies listed.

Stall tactics that is what Congress is best at. Only Senator Reid is free from receiving moneys. In my book, he has been elevated to Sainthood. And he is listening to the public option. I found out from Ronni's blog listed above that President Obama took out the possibility of a public option coming under Medicare. So I ask President Obama why? Was is too simple to use an infrastructure that is already in place to provide health coverage? Medicare is not perfect but it works. And if we took the age factor out, it would work better. It seems so logical to spread risk in health insurance over 100 million people, rather then put 40 million in a separate pool. The risk factor would decrease; costs would decrease. And it's already in place. It could actually work. What a concept! Making something work simply, easily and at less cost. Who knew? Certainly not our Congress.  And sadly, not even President Obama. And that saddens me even more.

If you do not make your voice known, you will have no say in the health care destiny of you or members of your family. If you do not make your voice known to Congress to tell them how you feel about their taking money from industries who control the US health care system, then we all reap the consequences. I am not willing to sit back and do nothing. I hope you feel the same.

So here is the link to find out the phone/email of your Rep and Senators in Congress and even the President. The rest is up to you.

more to come..............

Contact these Senators, Medicare Recipients: tell them to support doctor reimbursement

Ok have not posted in a couple days and now doing 2 posts. Obviously, I have too much time on my hands and I believe people have power to change lives. In prior post I listed some Senators who have Medicare. They also have high option health insurance paid for by the US citizens they represent. That means their coverage is superb. Is yours?

Doctors who accept Medicare payment, receive less reimbursement than any other insurer. Why? Discrimination against those over 65? Saying to docs and world, these people do not deserve health coverage? I am just asking a question here.

The Senate defeated a bill designed to stop another cut in reimbursement to docs accepting Medicare. Not good. See http://www.timegoesby.net/ for today's blog on this subject.

Rep. Weiner posted members of Congress who are on Medicare: contact these Senators and ask them if they want their docs to refuse to accept Medicare . Here is the list. Do it now please. Power to the people. We have this power to make our voices heard:

Sen. Jim Bunning




Sen. Richard G. Lugar



Sen. Charles E. Grassley




Sen. Robert F. Bennett
Sen. Orrin G. Hatch




Sen. Richard C. Shelby

Sen. Pat Roberts




Sen. George V. Voinovich



Sen. John McCain


Sen. Thad Cochran



Sen. Christopher S. Bond


Sen. Lamar Alexander
Sen. Mitch McConnell


Sen. Jim Risch

Sen. Jon Kyl

Sen. Saxby Chambliss




Sen. Michael B. Enzi
House of Reps:

Addenudum: Call this number and ask to speak with your Representative: (202) 224-3121



We hear Democrats in the House are counting votes for a robust public option this morning. We need to flood their offices with calls. Please call your Representative now.