Monday, May 23, 2011

Emails to Obama, Biden, Boxer, and Feinstein on Economy

Enough of the Spending

This is how we, the middle class citizens, view what you, the democrats, and Obama, have done to us: The Obama Legacy. I have children and grandchildren and it sickens me to know that you and your political class continue to ignore the peril you have put our country in. President Obama, Vice President Biden, Senator Boxer, and Senator Feinstein, it is time for you and your elitist class to fix our economy, stop the spending, reform the broken social programs, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, stop the scare tactics and the threats of tax increases; or, better yet, just step down and get out of the way of the efforts by the GOP to trim the budgets and reform where needed. Frankly, your work, your behavior, your partisanship, your ignorance exudes incompetence. You are a great disappointment to millions of Americans.

Friday, May 13, 2011

Email to the AFSCME Union

Tracey Coaty,

In regards to your email, specifically, “Shining a Light on House Budget Cuts to Medicare and Medicaid; the Republican budget plan replaces Medicare with a voucher system and slashes Medicaid spending,” YOU ARE BEING VERY DISINGENUOUS when you make this political and not about the truth and facts behind the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) (ObamaCare) as compared to the proposed Republican plan. Rather than putting out political propaganda such as this, perhaps it would be best to do real comparisons with what the democrats already gave us in the form of ACA and what the Republican plan wants to reform. You are patronizing and insulting to those of us who can research, critically evaluate, and omit the political propaganda for making important decisions.

Here is some literature that you can use to make real comparisons and TELL THE TRUTH – LEAVE THE POLITICS OUT OF IT:

How Health Reform Affects Current and Future Retirees:

“The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) will fundamentally alter Medicare. If its provisions remain in place, in the long run it will dramatically reduce Medicare spending relative to recent projections. This change will lower the burden for future taxpayers, but it could also reduce access to care for future beneficiaries.”


So, honestly, which is worse? Does the proposed Republican budget plan or the ACA plan, that was put in place by those democrats you support, make it worse for recipients of Medicare and Medicaid? Are you really for the people or for your political cronies? STOP THE POLITICIZATION OF SOMETHING AS CRITICAL AS OUR HEALTHCARE!!!

Grace McGovern

Friday, April 8, 2011

Words from a Soldier

Words from a Soldier: I took a job knowing I would never get rich. I've missed out on many holidays and spent them working. I may have to lay down my life or take one. My life expectancy is shorter than yours because of the stress. But yet you think I'm overpaid and you won't pay me because you can't work together to keep our government running, and yet you will pay yourself? SHAMEFUL!


Miscreant politicians Obama and Harry Reid would rather hold out paying our soldiers' salaries for funding to murder babies. Unconscionable!

Monday, February 28, 2011

Balancing My Budget

I'm Tightening my Belt!

Biting the bullet---cutting expenses. I HOPE YOU WILL PARTICIPATE, AND DO YOUR PART!!!!!!!

The President ordered the cabinet to cut a whopping $100 million from the $3.5 trillion federal budget!

I'm so impressed by this sacrifice that I have decided to do the same thing with my personal budget. I spend about $2000 a month on groceries, household expenses, medicine, utilities, etc, but it's time to get out the budget cutting ax, go line by line through my expenses, and cut back!

I'm going to cut my spending at exactly the same ratio -1/35,000 of my total budget. After doing the math, it looks like instead of spending $2000 a month; I'm going to have to cut that number by six cents!

Yes, I'm going to have to get by with $1999.94, but that's what sacrifice is all about. I'll just have to do without some things, that are, frankly, luxuries. (Did the pres actually think no one would do the math?)

John Q. Taxpayer

Friday, February 25, 2011

Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA) for dependents up to age 26

I received an email from a friend concerned with health care for dependents up to the age of 26, he is specifically referring to Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA), not TRICARE:

Attached is a response by Senator Robert Menendez(D) NJ. It states that military & retired military children will be the only ones in our country without health care until they are 26. The military considers health care a benefit not insurance. The insert to provide coverage to this demographic was in the defense budget but cut before it was signed into law. Please contact your local representatives, news reporters or anyone that can help get this fixed. Please send this to everyone you know, the only way to get this fixed is to fight for what is right.


The text from the letter sent to him from Rep. Robert Menendez (D-NY) follows; notice that he does not indicate wether any action by the 112th congress will be taken, rather patronizes with this statement: "should this legislation be reintroduced in the 112th Congress:"

Thank you for contacting me to express your support for increasing the age of CHAMPVA dependent coverage. Your opinion is very important to me, and I appreciate the opportunity to respond to you on this issue.

As you may know, S. 3356 and S. 3801 were introduced during the 111th Congress, which would extend coverage under the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA) to dependent children up to 26 years old. This provision was also added as part of the House-passed version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2011, but was not included in the final version of the NDAA that was signed into law. Please be assured that I will keep your views in mind should this legislation be reintroduced in the 112th Congress.

Again, thank you for sharing your thoughts with me. Please do not hesitate to contact me if I may be of further assistance. I invite you to visit my website (http://menendez.senate.gov) to learn more about how I am standing up for New Jersey families in the United States Senate.


Provided below is additional information for those of you who rely on CHAMPVA:

FYI, this benefit was included in S. 3356, extension of the “TANF Emergency Fund through fiscal year 2011 and to provide funding for summer employment for youth;” this bill was NOT approved on a bipartisan basis. This is one of the negative consequences when senators insert issues that have nothing to do with a controversial bill.

As for S. 3801, US Enemy Belligerent Interrogation, Detention, and Prosecution Act of 2010, it was never brought up for a senate vote but sent to committee of veteran affairs and there it remained.

The House passed H.R. 5136, NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2011, which included “SEC. 600. INCREASE OF MAXIMUM AGE FOR CHILDREN ELIGIBLE FOR MEDICAL CARE UNDER CHAMPVA PROGRAM.” It went to the Senate, becoming S. 3454; the final mark-up of this bill, before it was passed, included TRICARE dependent care change to age 26, but did NOT include anything for CHAMPVA.

As far as I know, S.3801 is still in committee; this link: http://healthlegislation.blogspot.com/2010/10/tricare-and-va-health-care-impact-of.html, dated October 08, 2010, states, “The Senate Armed Services Committee-reported version of the FY2011 NDAA (S. 3454, S.Rept. 111-201) included a similar provision for TRICARE but not CHAMPVA. Several standalone measures have been introduced to extend CHAMPVA coverage to eligible dependent children up to age 26: H.R. 5185, H.R. 5206, S. 3356, and S. 3801. There has been no legislative action on these measures.”

I don’t know why the CHAMPVA age 26 coverage was removed from the S. 3454 NDAA of 2011 while in committee and have not been able to find out any information to explain. I did find out from this link, http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s111-3356&tab=committees, that “because this bill was introduced in a previous session of Congress (111th Congress), no more action can occur on it.” The same “no more action can occur on it” applies to H.R. 5185 and H.R. 5206 which may also have addressed CHAMPVA.

Bottom line, it appears this issue is dead in the water unless someone in the 112th congress brings it back to life. Be sure to pass this info back to your mailing list, they should contact their congressman/women, as you stated.