Cleo's Mom

As opposed to how well PRIVATE corporate america is handling things: Bear Stearns AIG Lehman Brothers Countrywide Goldman Sachs Bank of America Citigroup And like I posted before: NO POOR PERSON OR GOVERNMENT ACTIVITY OR PROGRAM CAUSED MY RETIREMENT INVESTMENT TO TANK - BUT CORPORATE AMERICA DID!!!

By the way, HeatherO, your baby is adorable. Big first birthday coming up!

eyespy: not everyone is able to achieve that sweet spot. I have a 4cc band and have had zero to 3cc in it (3cc was too tight and had to have some taken out) and never had the sweet spot sensation. I had the worst of both worlds - hunger, not being satisfied but physically being unable to eat, reflux, heartburn and pain. Then I was at 2cc and got very stuck requiring a trip to the ER and overnight stay. All fill was removed. That was December. I have not gained any weight. I have lost 75lbs. but only 15 since I got the band in Sept. 2008. I follow all the rules, eat healthy foods, low fat, sugar free, whole grain, protein - the whole bit. So, the band does not work the same way for everyone. While I do feel some restriction in the sense that I cannot eat as much food at one sitting as I did pre-band, in no way has this band EVER caused my hunger to go away and that was the main reason I got it. I am doing all of this on my own, so to speak. And being hungry a lot. Rarely satisfied (unless I eat more food than I should).

More on the tea party. I asked this same question quite some time ago and knew the answer, too. The teabaggers are fakes: Where Are the Tea Party Protests About Wall Street? Fri Apr 23, 2010 at 04:38:44 AM PDT We're down to the wire here on financial reform. I can't think of a better time to put pressure on Wall Street and Washington to make sure there is adequate regulation to ensure that we never have another bailout. The AFL-CIO is about to have a protest at Wall Street on April 29th. Great, that makes sense. I'm sure the right-wing groups who are also upset about the bailouts will join them. If you remember, the Tea Parties were originally formed to protest the bailouts. They were so mad at the Wall Street bankers who destroyed the economy and then took our hard earned money for their efforts. So, they will take this opportunity of course to launch their own protest of Wall Street. They will protest the TARP money, the easy credit, the lack of regulation, the wild risk taking and the excessive bonuses paid with taxpayer money. They're really going to take the fight to them. Just kidding. They're not going to do anything. They're going to sit out this fight on financial reform and put absolutely no pressure on Wall Street at all. Because they are tools easily manipulated by right-wing organizations funded by corporate America. I really feel sorry for them. They're dupes. They think they are so fiercely independent when in fact they are the most easily manipulated people in the country. All that anger toward the power establishment and what happened? They were used by that same establishment to fight against health care reform and to try to protect the health insurance companies. Suckers. Now, when it's time to fight the financial companies, where are they? Nowhere to be found. Why? Because FreedomWorks and Americans for Prosperity didn't organize any bus rides to Wall Street. They didn't manufacture the outrage they did in protecting the health care companies. They used the Tea Party protestors for their own purposes and then left them on the side of the road, only to be picked up again when they need to protect another company or industry. I issued a challenge back in January to the Tea Party organizers to rally against Wall Street or even against the Obama administration (Tim Geithner in particular) for being too soft on them. And what's happened since then? Nada. Zilch. Zippo. So, I was proven right - they're never, ever going to protest Wall Street because they are ignorant dupes being led by the nose by their corporate overlords. And they think they're so tough and independent-minded. What a farce. The whole movement is a sad joke being played on its own members. from: dailykos

Well, first of all, I am better educated than the average american. That is not an elitist remark, just a fact. And secondly, I study politics and the government and am better informed about it than the average person. And thirdly, these same people don't trust corporate america or wall street either, which SOME on these boards trust. So I guess that makes those on here who stand with wall street think they know more than the average american. Also, the government is we the people. It is me. And I want to see it work for me and for all Americans. I want it to succeed. Saying the government is the problem over and over again is not the answer or the solution. It's just easy. Rolling eyes!! Over the past several years, opinion polls have revealed the public's concerns about its views of business ethics diverging from the opinions held by business leaders. A poll of citizens and business people was conducted by The Marist College Institute for Public Opinion in 2009. The survey found that citizens were more likely than business executives to express a downbeat opinion on the direction and practices of corporate America. This gap suggests that business leaders are out of touch with their stakeholders. Some key findings: ► More than three-quarters of Americans said the moral compass of corporate America is pointing in the wrong direction, compared to 58 percent of business executives. ► A majority of Americans gave corporate America the grades of D or F for honesty and ethics and rated the country's business leadership as "poor" while business leaders gave themselves C and B marks for honesty and ethics and think they are doing a fair job at leading. ► Only an estimated 3 in 10 Americans and executives think the "public good" is a strong factor in the choices of corporate leaders. Carl Anderson, a leader in commissioning the survey reportedly said: "Today, America faces a serious problem with a financial crisis caused in no small part by greed - the public lacks confidence in our financial system and in much of 'corporate America.' "This confidence cannot and will not be restored until American executives and companies choose to be guided by a moral compass in their business decisions. Only a strong commitment to ethical business practices on the part of executives and the companies they lead can restore America's confidence in its financial system," Anderson said.

I don't want to slight any of the republicans who advocate bartering with your doctor, so I have to add Republican state representative, Mike Bell, from TN who is another member of what is being called HEALTH REFARM who advocates paying your doctor with vegetables. Seriously, do the republicans have a lab somewhere where they produce these whackos from pods?

Wasn't it someone on these boards who claimed (wrongly) that insurance companies don't drop subscribers when they get sick? Devastating report: Wellpoint routinely targets then cancels policies of breast cancer patients Thu Apr 22, 2010 at 08:27:26 AM PDT Wellpoint has been busted again. And this new savage attack against sick women must not go unpunished. Wellpoint singles out women with breast cancer for aggressive investigation with the intent of canceling their insurance federal investigators told Murray Waas at Reuters. Despite the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the shameless for-profit insurance industry, which remains at the heart of our new and improved health care system, is digging in to fight sick Americans at every bend in the road. The latest atrocity is a just released report via Reuters, that Wellpoint routinely and systematically targeted breast cancer patients and rescinded their policies once they became ill. One after another, shortly after a diagnosis of breast cancer, each of the women learned that her health insurance had been canceled. First there was Yenny Hsu, who lived and worked in Los Angeles. Later, Robin Beaton, a registered nurse from Texas. And then, most recently, there was Patricia Relling, a successful art gallery owner and interior designer from Louisville, Kentucky It gets worse. Before I go any further, keep in mind, Wellpoint has more customers than any other U.S. health insurance company. And it should be clear to everyone that the thugs who run this company have every intention of gaming the new law at every opportunity. They reward their executives very well for their predatory business practices. The CEO of Wellpoint Angela Braly 2009 compensation package skyrocketed 51 percent from 2008 to $13.1 million. Wellpoint already busted for gaming medical loss ratios. Wellpoint got busted out of the box for gaming the medical loss ratio requirements the new law mandates. Now Wellpoint is busted for targeting breast cancer patients. Now, Wellpoint is busted for routinely and savagely canceling the policies of women with breast cancer. This is chilling, and certainly fills me with fear about what these predatory companies will think of next, to stay one step ahead of the law. When will the elected class begin to include jail as the only remedy for the executives like Angela Braly of Wellpoint, who endorse these illegal activities? None of the women knew about the others. But besides their similar narratives, they had something else in common: Their health insurance carriers were subsidiaries of WellPoint, which has 33.7 million policyholders -- more than any other health insurance company in the United States. The women all paid their premiums on time. Before they fell ill, none had any problems with their insurance. Initially, they believed their policies had been canceled by mistake. They had no idea that WellPoint was using a computer algorithm that automatically targeted them and every other policyholder recently diagnosed with breast cancer. The software triggered an immediate fraud investigation, as the company searched for some pretext to drop their policies, according to government regulators and investigators. Once the women were singled out, they say, the insurer then canceled their policies based on either erroneous or flimsy information. WellPoint declined to comment on the women's specific cases without a signed waiver from them, citing privacy laws. from: dailykos

Boy, these hilarious republicans just keep you in stitches. In case you didn't hear - republican candidate for senate in NV - Sue Lowden- has advocated paying doctors with chickens. Yes, she says, you too can barter with your doctor. Here is an "endorsement" she received :thumbup: NV-Sen: Lowden Receives Major Endorsement by BarbinMD Wed Apr 21, 2010 at 07:10:05 PM PDT The bold proposal by Nevada Republican senatorial candidate Sue Lowden to have patients pay their doctor with chickens is already paying dividends, as she picked up a major endorsement today: A spokesman for the group said, "For too long we've had to stomachs the Republican Party indiscriminately throwing red meat to their base. It's refreshing to see a candidate go with a healthier, albeit just as dishonest meat." And these are the people some want to win in November? I assume she would also be agreeable to her campaign donors giving chickens instead of cash. Ya think???

March 29, 2010 The news: several companies, including 3M, John Deere, and Caterpillar, have already announced that due to the health-care plan recently (and with incredible tumult) signed into law, they'll see raised expenses this year, which could be tough in this economic environment. But all of those companies' added expenses combined don't add up to half of AT&T's proposed problem, announced on Friday and reported by The New York Times: the telecommunications giant says they'll see a whopping $1 billion "noncash accounting charge" this year. In other words, AT&T will have $1 billion less in 2010 than in 2009, explicitly because of this bill--and such a big change in the books may mean AT&T will pass on the loss to its employees, possibly resulting in a loss of health-care benefits for retirees. April 18, 2010 House panel cancels meeting with company execs on healthcare law costs By Vicki Needham - 04/14/10 05:44 PM ET A House panel has canceled a hearing to examine the financial effects of the healthcare law on the nation's large companies. The companies asked to allow more time for provisions of the new law to go into effect before holding a hearing, House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman and Bart Stupak, chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations wrote in a letter to subcommittee members dated Wednesday. Company representatives from AT&T, John Deere, Verizon and Caterpillar were scheduled to testify April 21 about millions in additional costs the healthcare law would create for their businesses. During preliminary interviews, representatives from the large employers said the new law could have positive effects for the companies by eventually cutting healthcare expenses, if implemented properly, according to the letter. John Castellani, president of the Business Roundtable, told committee staff that if "implemented right, the law has the potential to make employers and employees better off because it could bend the cost curve," according to the letter. Several companies commented on how the healthcare bill could help their companies. "Should the structural reforms intended to reduce the costs of delivering healthcare ultimately prove successful over time, self-insured companies like AT&T would likely benefit from such reduced costs," said Wayne Watts, senior executive vice president for AT&T. Wow! When they were told to "show us the figures" they backed down and changed their tune. And there are those who say the government lies :thumbup: - IT'S CORPORATE AMERICA WHO ARE THE LIARS AND THIEVES (DOES GOLDMAN SACHS RING A BELL?)

This is what needs to happen at every level of charges against Obama and the democrats and their agenda: PUT UP OR SHUT UP - this goes for boehner, mcconnell, mccain, palin, rush, beck, rove, cheney and all the other big mouths. SHOW US THE FACTS - OR SHUT UP!!! That would silence them all in a hurry. They don't deal in facts, just lies and fear. I love it! When they were told to put up they backed down and reversed their earlier predictions from costing billions to saving them money - unbelievable!!

My response to the teabaggers: :thumbup:

E.J. Dionne Jr.: Tea party populism Why is so much energy being devoted to a sliver of opinion? Monday, April 19, 2010 WASHINGTON -- The tea party is nothing new, it represents a relatively small minority of Americans on the right end of politics, and it will not determine the outcome of the 2010 elections. In fact, both parties stand to lose if they accept the laughable notion that this media-created protest movement is the voice of true populism. Democrats will spend their time chasing votes they will never win. Republicans will turn their party into an angry and narrow redoubt with no hope of building a durable majority. The news media's incessant focus on the tea party is creating a badly distorted picture of what most Americans think and warping our policy debates. The New York Times and CBS News thus performed a public service last week by conducting a careful study of just who is in the tea party movement. Their findings suggest that the tea party is essentially the reappearance of an old anti-government far right that has always been with us and accounts for about one-fifth of the country. The Times reported that tea party supporters "tend to be Republican, white, male, married and older than 45." This is the populism of the privileged. Tea party backers are far more likely than others to describe their views as "very conservative," and are decidedly more inclined than the rest of us to believe that too much is made of the problems facing black people. This last finding points to a disconcerting fact that white Americans are reluctant to discuss: Part of the anger at President Barack Obama is driven by the color of his skin. Saying this invites immediate denunciations from defenders of those who bring guns to rallies, threaten violence to "take our country back" and mouth old slogans about states' rights and the Confederacy. So let's be clear: Opposition to the president is driven by many factors that have nothing to do with race. But race is definitely part of what's going on. Here is the poll question in its entirety: "In recent years, do you think too much has been made of the problems facing black people, too little has been made, or is it about right?" Twenty-eight percent of all Americans -- and just 19 percent of those who are not tea party loyalists -- answered "too much." But among tea party supporters, the figure is 52 percent. Tea partiers are almost three times as likely as the rest of us to say that too much attention is being paid to the problems of blacks. Among all Americans, 11 percent say that the Obama administration's policies favor blacks over whites; 25 percent of tea party sympathizers say this. Again, more is going on here than race, but race is in the picture. Tea party enthusiasts also consistently side with the better-off against the poor, putting them at odds with most Americans. The poll found that "providingwhile only 38 percent of all Americans said that government benefits to poor people encourages them to remain poor," 73 percent of tea party partisans believed this. Among all Americans, 50 percent agreed that "the federal government should spend money to create jobs, even if it means increasing the budget deficit." Only 17 percent of tea party supporters took this view. As for raising taxes on households making more than $250,000 a year to provide health care for the uninsured, 54 percent of Americans favored doing so, as against only 17 percent of tea party backers. And this must be the first "populist" movement ever driven by a television network: 63 percent of the tea party folks say they most watch Fox News "for information about politics and current events," compared with 23 percent of the country as a whole. The right-wing fifth of the American population deserves news coverage like everyone else, and Fox is perfectly free to pander to its own viewers. What makes no sense is allowing a sliver of opinion out of touch with, yes, the "real" America to dominate the media and distort our political discourse. Democrats face problems not from right-wingers who have never voted for them, but from a lack of energy among their own supporters and from dispirited independents and moderates who look to government for competence in solving problems and have little confidence in its ability to deliver. A just-released Pew Research Center study found widespread mistrust of government, but also of banks, financial institutions and large corporations. Yes, there is authentic populist anger out there. But you won't find much of it at the tea parties. He says it best. And it's all true. Those who hold the views of the teabaggers on this forum and who claim that their views are held by the majority of Americans (because so many watch fox news) are WRONG. The majority of Americans and I share the same views on much of what this poll showed.

I couldn't find much about them cancelling the meeting but I did find the following: In a regulatory filing, AT&T estimated $1 billion in costs because the company won't be able to deduct a subsidy it receives from the federal government for healthcare costs for retirees. I had to read it several times. The government gives AT&T a subsidy and they are crying because they can no longer deduct it? Talk about double dipping and hitting the taxpayers twice. They were able to deduct the taxpayer's subsidy from the taxes they owe? Unbelievable!! If someone on welfare was able to do that, imagine the outrage. But of course it's corporate welfare so that's okay. Usually when someone gets a subsidy from any source that's counted as some type of income not a deduction. But this is corporate america and they get what they want.

No, I don't read that right-wing, republican rag sheet, but could you post the link or article? Sounds interesting (and typical of the hypocrites).

During times of an economic near collapse, like we had when Obama took office, spending is called for to help get us out the recession. Thankfully, that is what Pres. Obama did and it worked. After the economy is on its feet again, then the issues of spending and deficit reduction can be addressed, not before. Keep in mind that deficits happen not only due to spending but also to lost revenue and that can be blamed to a large extent on the 2 tax cuts to the rich under bush. Those are set to expire at the end of 2010. Let's see how many of those "cut the spending, reduce the deficit" hypocritical teabaggers or republicans get behind letting this unnecessary tax cut expire. Hmm. Who's to Blame for the Deficit Numbers?

Here's another perspective of what the Tea Party is about - one that I agree with for the most part: It's Not Just Because He's Black Sat Apr 17, 2010 at 03:02:14 PM PDT I was watching The Ed Show a couple of days ago, and he said something about the Tea Baggers that I think really rings true. The polls show that this is nothing but an offshoot of the Republican Party. These are the disgruntled people. They're not Democrats. They're not disgruntled Progressives. They're not Liberals. These are the people that lost the last election that just can't stand the fact that Barack Obama has been successful to getting the stimulus package to work, when it comes to create jobs, to get healthcare, to get rid of the pre-existing condition, to jumpstart the economy. This crowd is disappoint we're not loosing 800,000 jobs a month anymore. This crowd is disappointed that this President has now got a dialogue with countries around the world that 'ya know, yeah, maybe we better reduce our nuclear stockpile'.* * * The President of the United States has led Progressives to change. We're not even 18 months into this new effort to change America and bring some corporate accountability to America, and who's out there screamin'? Old White Folks that are upset that they're gonna get taxed and that they're gonna lose their wealth. That's what this is all about. . . Sure, I think a lot of the Tea Bag movement centers around racism. I've seen quite a few people say "well these people are just now getting active because they are against government spending" or something along those lines. Well, they didn't seem to be to worried about it when Bush was spending out of control. But suddenly we get Obama in office and we have crap like "tea partiers" running around screaming "we want our country back." What's that supposed to mean? But I digress. I think the fact that he's Black and a Democrat certainly isn't helping matters, but I think what's really pissing them off is the fact that he's SUCCEEDING. What he wants, he tends to get. He wants a stimulus package? It's passed. Healthcare? I'm sure they thought they killed that, but we got a bill. Of course the relative merits of these two pieces of legislation are subject to debate, but if it were up to the Tea Baggers they wouldn't exist at all. If the Tea Baggers had their way, President Obama wouldn't have gotten anything accomplished. The more he succeeds, the louder they yell and the more outraged they get. Just look at healthcare, the closer the Administration got to success, the harder the Republicans pushed and the more "outraged" the Tea Baggers got. I'm sure we all remember actual elected Congressmen and women going out and egging that crowd on before/during the House vote on HCR? Is it any wonder that the Tea Baggers tend to line up along the Republican line of thinking? Yet when it comes time to put the money where the mouths are they are pretty silent. What exactly would they have us cut? Our Defense budget? Social Security? Medicare? They don't want to pay taxes yet if the government were to stop collecting taxes and stop doing all of the services that it provides, they'd probably have a fit. President Obama has done some major things that either haven't been done, or haven't been done in a long time. If he were just a mediocre President, do you think all of these newly politically active people (this so called "grassroots movement" that seems to have a lot of corporate backing for what it's worth) would be out there now protesting? They knew he had big ideas from the election. They knew he wasn't coming in to be just a bench warmer President, and I think on policy there could be some valid criticism in the TeaParty, and the fact that he's actually achieving some of those big ideals is driving them crazy. but the fact of the matter is they don't want to talk about issues now, they don't want to debate issues now, they want to keep President Barack Hussein Obama from being a success (it certainly doesn't help that 92% of them consider Glenn Beck's Show "news" when not even FOX "News" does). So much of this is true. Many of the elected republicans in congress just see Pres. Obama's failures as their successes which is what they want. They don't care about the country, they just care about having Obama fail so that they can win. Just look at rush - he cheered, as did others, when Pres. Obama wasn't successful in getting the Olympics in the United States. Now, if you were a real patriot cheering for your country, you would have been cheering him on. But that's not what it's about. Their hatred of Pres. Obama, the president, the man, is palpable. And I don't know where you read your accounts of the economy but Pres. Obama has been successful in turning the economy around. But trust a conservative to get it wrong. By all accounts and measures. So you lack complete credibility when you post otherwise. I have already posted many articles profiling the success of the stimulus and Pres. Obama's economic policy and where we are now compared to January 2009. I am so glad we had someone with brains to lead us out of the economic disaster.

Goldman Sachs faces SEC fraud case Saturday, April 17, 2010 By Greg Gordon, McClatchy Newspapers WASHINGTON -- Goldman Sachs, whose tactics exiting the collapsing subprime mortgage market have been under government scrutiny for months, now faces federal fraud charges that it duped investors into losing $1 billion on a rigged offshore deal pegged to dicey home loans. The suit, brought Friday by the Securities and Exchange Commission, accuses Goldman and one of its vice presidents, Fabrice Tourre, 31, of letting a Wall Street hedge fund secretly select many of the securities in the deal. The hedge fund, Paulson & Co., then bet that those subprime mortgage securities would fail. When they did, Paulson made a $1 billion profit, and investors lost more than $1 billion, nearly all of their money, the complaint charges. No poor person ever did this to me. But this fraudulent behavior caused my retirement fund to tank. :thumbup:

An oldie but goodie: On August 18, at Simpson University in Redding, CA., Rep. Berger put on quite a performance that has been captured on Youtube. First, he warmed up the supportive crowd by declaring, “Our democracy has never been threatened as much as it is today,” Herger said to a loud standing ovation. Herger then took aim at global warming and the cap-and-trade bill saying, “Healthcare is not the only threat to our democracy.” He received more cheers when he declared that a public health care option was “unacceptable.” An audience member, named Bert Stead stood up extolling his Mayflower ancestry, and then said, “I am a proud right-wing terrorist.” Stead then made reference to the birther conspiracy theory and admitted to attending tea party protests. The self-described terrorist then sat down to cheers from the audience. After a few moments, Rep. Herger said, “Amen, God bless you. There is a great American,” to more cheers. It’s doubtful that Bert Stead is dangerous, but that’s not really the point. A member of the U.S. Congress condoned right-wing domestic terrorism, as an acceptable way to deal with opposition to government policies. Not only do those on the right advocate for terrorism, it is cheered. And these are the people we want to elect more of? :thumbup:

From tea party supporter Jodine White of Rocklin, California, trying to explain how she reconciles her desire for smaller government with her support for Social Security: That’s a conundrum, isn’t it? I don’t know what to say. Maybe I don’t want smaller government. I guess I want smaller government and my Social Security. I didn’t look at it from the perspective of losing things I need. I think I’ve changed my mind. :laugh: Wants to have her cake and eat it too. So typical of the hypocrisy of this movement. :thumbup:

Just the same old "bash the poor, I got mine, I deserve mine" BS that the right yaps about all the time. Yawn. :laugh: It's easy to pick on the poor and make them the target of all of your hate because they don't have a voice (i.e. big corporate lobbyists). It unites a certain segment ( i.e.-the 4 R's of republicanism: rich, racist, red-neck and religious right) to have a common "enemy" to blame everything on. In Nazi Germany, it was the Jews. The nazis told people that all the problems were caused by the Jews. That then made it easy for people to look the other way when they were rounded up for "work" camps. Then it was the blacks and then women and now the mexicans and poor in this country. And if you look at the people behind the nut-tea party it is mostly white, middle aged republican men. White men used to control everything in this country and make all the rules. Then they were told that they had to share and they don't like it. They enjoyed being at the front of the line and want everyone else to get to the back. No one who controls all the power ever willingly shares it and we're seeing that now with all the anti-Obama movement. The government has been "spreading the wealth" since they started collecting taxes. That's what they do. Collect taxes from everyone and then dole it out to different areas. About 2/3 of our spending goes for Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and the Military. Now, I want to see any elected representative talk about cutting these programs. Come on - step right up to the plate or SHUT UP AND QUIT YOUR YAPPING. Now, I might want to make cuts in the bloated military budget, but that isn't going to happen. I don't like that my tax dollars goes to unnecessary wars, like the one in Iraq, but they do. But hey, let's keep targeting the poor, that single mom making minimum wage, the senior citizen on a fixed income, the disable person who collects SSI - Yeah, these are the people that are the problem :thumbup:, while all those fat cats on wall street are laughing at all the nut-teas, knowing they (and their bonuses) are safe. Let's see which side of the financial reform bill the nut-teas come out on. Should be interesting. And telling.

Exactly. And what do we really care? We know we're on the right side. We stand with the american people, not wall street. We care about people and want a country that doesn't turn it's back to those in need. That's what third world countries and those with dictators do and if those here don't like our safety nets - then go live in one of those countries. Taking care of the least among us is what makes us great and separates us from the not so great. And what hypocrites they are to think that everything they have they got all by themselves, they deserve it, no one else helped them, least of all the government, when they have no idea of all the good things that they enjoy everyday courtesy of our government. Phonies, hypocrites one and all.

Thank you, LeighaMason. I agree and LIBERALS ARE THE TRUE PATRIOTS BECAUSE WE DON'T HATE THE GOVERNMENT.

To follow up on PG's hilarious email: Add to the list of what the right wing extremists can keep: -all the hoods and the KKK who wears them -the anti-government militia who want to kill those cops you're keeping. -Timothy McVeigh -the segregated south -lynchings -women who aren't allowed to vote -pay inequality for the sexes -child labor (aren't your kids lazy anyway?) -80 hour work weeks (I mean what else are you going to do with your time other than adjust the gun rack on your truck?) -no minimum wage (is that WalMart I hear clapping?) -no workplace safety (does Massey mine sound good?) -all the tainted drugs, food, Water and polluted air you can take, eat and breathe -no healthcare (you can self-medicate with tainted drugs or go to your local redneck bar to dull the pain) -no social security or medicare (grandma's coming to live with you, so you get to keep her, too) -confederate flag -and george bush, limbaugh, beck, hannity, rove and the dominatrix of the nut-teas - Sarah Palin with her penchant for leather (she just wants to hurt ya, you betcha)

There needs to be regulations that punish companies that send jobs overseas and offer incentives for keeping jobs here. These incentives don't have to be allowing them to get off scot free from paying taxes, they just have to see that it is more to their advantage to keep jobs here than send them overseas. And WalMart just rose to the top again of the Fortune 500. Do you really think what they pay creates a middle class? They inservice their employees on what government programs they are eligible for - in essence we taxpayers are subsidizing their low paychecks from WalMart. Additionally, with the Fortune 500 doing so well in 2009, I again ask: Where are the jobs? If this corporate welfare and tax breaks are for the purpose of helping the middle class, as you say, then where are the jobs? Everything I read says that there is more spending and buying by consumers again, these companies are doing very well, so where are all the private sector jobs?