Monday, July 9, 2012
Report: 83 percent of doctors have considered quitting over Obamacare!
Verne Strickland Blogmaster / USA DOT COM
Published: 2:20 PM 07/09/2012
Eighty-three percent of American physicians have considered leaving their practices over President Barack Obama’s health care reform law, according to a survey released by the Doctor Patient Medical Association.
The DPMA, a non-partisan association of doctors and patients, surveyed a random selection of 699 doctors nationwide. The survey found that the majority have thought about bailing out of their careers over the legislation, which was upheld last month by the Supreme Court.
Even if doctors do not quit their jobs over the ruling, America will face a shortage of at least 90,000 doctors by 2020. The new health care law increases demand for physicians by expanding insurance coverage. This change will exacerbate the current shortage as more Americans live past 65.
By 2025 the shortage will balloon to over 130,000, Len Marquez, the director of government relations at the American Association of Medical Colleges, told The Daily Caller.
“One of our primary concerns is that you’ve got an aging physician workforce and you have these new beneficiaries — these newly insured people — coming through the system,” he said. “There will be strains and there will be physician shortages.”
The DPMA found that many doctors do not believe the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will lead to better access to medical care for the majority of Americans, co-founder of the DPMA Kathryn Serkes told TheDC.
“Doctors clearly understand what Washington does not — that a piece of paper that says you are ‘covered’ by insurance or ‘enrolled’ in Medicare or Medicaid does not translate to actual medical care when doctors can’t afford to see patients at the lowball payments, and patients have to jump through government and insurance company bureaucratic hoops,” she said. (SEE ALSO: Jeremiah Wright: ‘White racist alien DNA’ running through synapses of Obama’s brain )
The American Medical Association, which endorsed Obama’s health care overhaul, was not able to immediately offer comment on the survey. Spokesperson Heather Lasher Todd said it would take time to review the information in the survey.
Janelle Davis of the American Academy of Family Physicians said the AAFP could not provide thoughtful commentary without studying the survey’s findings and methodology.
(16 votes, average: 4.31 out of 5)
An opponent of President Barack Obama's
health care law demonstrates outside the Supreme Court in Washington,
Thursday, June 28, 2012, before the court's ruling on the law. (AP
Photo/David Goldman)
Get Sally Nelson FeedEighty-three percent of American physicians have considered leaving their practices over President Barack Obama’s health care reform law, according to a survey released by the Doctor Patient Medical Association.
The DPMA, a non-partisan association of doctors and patients, surveyed a random selection of 699 doctors nationwide. The survey found that the majority have thought about bailing out of their careers over the legislation, which was upheld last month by the Supreme Court.
Even if doctors do not quit their jobs over the ruling, America will face a shortage of at least 90,000 doctors by 2020. The new health care law increases demand for physicians by expanding insurance coverage. This change will exacerbate the current shortage as more Americans live past 65.
By 2025 the shortage will balloon to over 130,000, Len Marquez, the director of government relations at the American Association of Medical Colleges, told The Daily Caller.
“One of our primary concerns is that you’ve got an aging physician workforce and you have these new beneficiaries — these newly insured people — coming through the system,” he said. “There will be strains and there will be physician shortages.”
The DPMA found that many doctors do not believe the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will lead to better access to medical care for the majority of Americans, co-founder of the DPMA Kathryn Serkes told TheDC.
“Doctors clearly understand what Washington does not — that a piece of paper that says you are ‘covered’ by insurance or ‘enrolled’ in Medicare or Medicaid does not translate to actual medical care when doctors can’t afford to see patients at the lowball payments, and patients have to jump through government and insurance company bureaucratic hoops,” she said. (SEE ALSO: Jeremiah Wright: ‘White racist alien DNA’ running through synapses of Obama’s brain )
The American Medical Association, which endorsed Obama’s health care overhaul, was not able to immediately offer comment on the survey. Spokesperson Heather Lasher Todd said it would take time to review the information in the survey.
Janelle Davis of the American Academy of Family Physicians said the AAFP could not provide thoughtful commentary without studying the survey’s findings and methodology.
(16 votes, average: 4.31 out of 5)Sunday, July 8, 2012
Why can't black Americans swim? Whatever the excuse or purported reason, the cost in black lives is clear and excessive.
Verne Strickland / Blogmaster / July 8, 2012
The drownings shocked the community and sparked a campaign
A month ago, six
African-American teenagers drowned in a single incident in Louisiana,
prompting soul-searching about why so many young black Americans can't
swim.
When 15-year-old DeKendrix Warner accidentally stepped into
deeper water while wading in the Red River in Shreveport, he panicked.JaTavious Warner, 17, Takeitha Warner, 13, JaMarcus Warner, 14, Litrelle Stewart, 18, Latevin Stewart, 15, and LaDarius Stewart, 17, rushed to help him and each other.
None of them could swim. All six drowned. DeKendrix was rescued by a passer-by.
Continue reading the main story
US swimming stats
- USA Swimming/University of Memphis study found ethnic differences
- 68.9% of African-American children with no or low ability to swim
- 57.9% of Hispanic children
- 41.8% of white children
- Study quizzed 2,000 children and parents in six US cities
- CDC recorded 3,443 fatal accidental drownings in 2007
- Drowning is second greatest cause of accidental death in children under 14
- African-American children aged 5 to 14 3.1 times more likely to drown
Maude Warner, mother of three of the victims, and the other adults present also couldn't swim.
The US has almost 3,500 accidental drownings every year, almost 10 a day. But according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the fatal drowning rate of African-American children aged five-14 is three times that of white children.
A recent study sponsored by USA Swimming uncovered equally stark statistics.
Just under 70% of African-American children surveyed said they had no or low ability to swim. Low ability merely meant they were able to splash around in the shallow end. A further 12% said they could swim but had "taught themselves".
The study found 58% of Hispanic children had no or low swimming ability. For white children, the figure was only 42%.
"It is an epidemic that is almost going unnoticed," says Sue Anderson, director of programmes and services at USA Swimming.
The swimming body would like all children to be taught to swim.
Parents' responsibility
"We would like it to be like seatbelts and bicycle helmets," says Ms Anderson.
But the situation in the US can vary hugely even within a single state.
Olympic gold medallist Cullen Jones is a spokesman for swimming initiatives
"I would love to make it a rule like they have in the UK," says Cullen Jones, a gold medallist in the freestyle 100m relay in Beijing, and a spokesman for USA Swimming's Make a Splash campaign.
"It isn't a requirement, it isn't a priority in the US."
Jones's mother took him to swimming lessons after he nearly drowned at a theme park aged five. By eight he was swimming competitively.
The Make a Splash campaign is targeting all non-swimmers and their parents but there is a particular focus on ethnic minority families.
Fear factor
Many black parents are not teaching their children to swim.
Some might assume the fundamental reasons would be lack of money for swimming lessons or living in areas where there were no pools, but the reality is more complex.
"Fear of drowning or fear of injury was really the major variable," says Prof Carol Irwin, a sociologist from the University of Memphis, who led the study for USA Swimming.
Continue reading the main story
"Swimming never became a part of African- American recreational culture"
Prof Jeff Wiltse
Author, Contested Waters
Typically, those children who could not swim also had parents who could not swim.
"Parents who don't know how to swim are very likely to pass on not knowing how to swim to their children," says Ms Anderson.In focus groups for the study, Prof Irwin said many black parents who could not swim evinced sentiments like: "My children are never going to learn to swim because I'm scared they would drown."
The parents' very fear of their children drowning was making that fate more likely.
The major reason behind the problem could lie in the era of segregation says Prof Jeff Wiltse, author of Contested Waters: A Social History of Swimming Pools in America.
"The history of discrimination… has contributed to the drowning and swimming rates," says Prof Wiltse.
In his work he identified two periods of a boom in swimming rates in the US - in the 1920s and 1930s when recreational swimming became popular and the 1950s and 1960s when the idea of swimming as a sport really took off.
There are historical reasons why black children do not learn to swim
"Black Americans were largely and systematically denied access to those pools," he notes.
"Swimming never became a part of African- American recreational culture."
In the northern US that segregation in pools ended in the 1940s and early 1950s, but many white swimmers responded by abandoning the municipal pools and heading off to private clubs in the suburbs where segregation continued to be enforced.
"Municipal pools became a low public priority," he notes.
After the race riots of the 1960s, many cities did start building pools in predominantly black areas, says Prof Wiltse, but there was still a problem. Many of the new pools were small - often only 20 by 40ft (six by 12m) and 3.5ft (1m) deep.
Continue reading the main story
Theories for low black American swimming rates
- Propagation of incorrect scientific theories such as black people being much less buoyant
- Historic factors going as far back as slaves not being allowed to learn to swim
- Denial of access to pools in 1920s and 30s causing ripple effect to present day
- Lack of municipal pools in predominantly black neighbourhoods in 1960s onwards
- Perception of swimming as elitist or white sport
"They didn't really accommodate
swimming. They attracted young kids who would stand in them and splash
about. There really wasn't an effort to teach African-American children
to swim in these pools."
Although there are many poor or working class white children
who cannot swim for similar reasons, swimming has gained an image as a
"white sport"."It is [seen as] a country club sport that only very rich kids get to participate in. The swimming pool is [seen as] a very elitist thing to have in your backyard," says Prof Irwin.
Bishop Larry Brandon, of the Praise Temple Full Gospel Baptist Cathedral, knew the Warner family, and is now persuading other pastors and ministers to use their pulpits to promote swimming.
Shreveport has quickly established a new swimming programme in the victims names and there is a drive to challenge misconceptions about swimming.
As well as the fear factor, Prof Irwin's study found that appearance was also a reason for African-Americans avoiding swimming.
Jones believes progress is being made
"African-American women, many of them if they go the beauty shop and get their hair fixed they are not going to swim," says Bishop Brandon.
Perhaps the most alarming thing is that the studies suggest that those who cannot swim - like the Warners and Stewarts - often spend time in pools and other swimming sites.
"Kids are going to be by the water, they love being by the water, and that's something that we really need to make a priority," says Jones.
"Here everybody knows how to drive a car. It should also be a rite of passage to learn how to swim."
RNC, Romney launch Victory Offices in Wilmington NC and across state.
Verne Strickland Blogmaster USA DOT COM, July 8, 2012
WILMINGTON—The Republican National Committee and the Romney for President campaign opened new Victory Offices on Super Saturday in several communities throughout North Carolina.
Volunteers hit the streets and the phone lines to gather support for the republican candidates. While Republicans said it was a busy day, it was only the beginning of the long campaign trail ahead.
Super Saturday got off to a roaring start. Republican volunteers made one campaign phone call after another. Fingers were dialing so quickly, the volunteers in the new Wilmington Victory Office ran out of numbers to call only one hour after starting.
That was just one of four offices that opened across the state Saturday. Offices also opened in Fayetteville, Greenville and Winston-Salem.
It is extra exposure that State Sen. David Rouzer said he hopes will turn into extra support when voters head to the polls.
"This election is going to be a tight election. I have no doubt about that in 2012. It's the little things that make the big difference in a close contest," said Rouzer.
Super Saturday volunteers said helping with the campaign was something they felt compelled to do. One volunteer, Barbara Ernest, explained.
"I'm one of those people who always sit back and complain about what's going on in politics, and it's time to get out and do something," said Ernest.
But when it comes to politics, there are always at least two sides. So, naturally, not everyone was supportive of the new Victory Offices' efforts. But regardless of their critics, the Republicans continued to charge forward and said it is all about making the connection with people and helping the undecided decide.
There are now eight victory offices across North Carolina. The four already open prior to Saturday are located in Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro and Asheville.
President Barack Obama's campaign currently has 16 offices in operation across the state.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Weekly Bible studies at home cost Phoenix man $12,000 in fines and over two months in jail.
Verne Strickland Blogmaster USA DOT COM July 7, 2012
A Phoenix man who held weekly Bible studies at his home has had the book thrown at him over the religious gatherings. Michael Salman (pictured above) has been sentenced to two months in jail and more than $12,000 in fines because the group sessions at his home were against the city's building code, Fox News Radio reported.
"They're cracking down on religious activities and religious use," Salman told Fox News Radio. "They're attacking what I as a Christian do in the privacy of my home."
Vicki Hill, Phoenix's chief assistant city prosecutor, said religious freedom had nothing to do with it and that it was a matter of public safety.
"Any time you are holding a gathering of people continuously, as he does – we have concerns about people being able to exit the facility properly in case there is a fire," Hill told Fox News Radio. "It came down to zoning and proper permitting."
Video | News | Weather | Sports
The battle between Salman and the city of Phoenix is a longstanding feud. Hill said that Salman's neighbors complained of the gatherings back in 2007 because they were causing too much traffic congestion. Originally, about 15 people would attent the Bible studies, Fox News Radio reported.
But that number began to grow, and that's when Phoenix officials sent Salman a letter saying that his living room gatherings were in violation of the city's building codes.
When he didn't stop hosting the groups, the Phoenix Fire Department broke up a Good Friday gathering Salman was hosting at his home in 2008 in which there were as many as 20 people in the backyard.
Salman then decided to construct a 2,000-square-foot building in his backyard and move the gatherings there. He said that he applied for and was granted the appropriate permits for the building.
Hill, however, said that the permits Salman received were for converting his garage into a game room.
Finally, in 2009, a dozen cops raided Salman's home and charged him with 67 code violations for hosting the gatherings.
Since then, the courts have sided with the city, saying that Salman was using the building as a church and, therefore, was subject to city zoning laws.
"He built a structure that he said wasn't a church that is, in fact, a church," Hill told Fox News Radio.
"The state is not saying that the Salmans can't run a church or have worship services at the location," read a Jan. 4, 2010, Arizona court ruling. "But the state is saying that if they do so, they must do it properly and in accord with fire and zoning laws."
Salman doesn't buy the court's argument and has claimed that Phoenix officials are discriminating against him for his religious beliefs.
"If I had people coming to my home on a regular basis for poker night or Monday Night Football, it would be permitted," he told Fox News Radio. "But when someone says to us we are not allowed to gather because of religious purposes – that is when you have discrimination."
Salman's attorney is appealing the ruling and Salman's sentencing, but unless a federal court intervenes, Salman will begin serving his sentence on July 9.
A Phoenix man who held weekly Bible studies at his home has had the book thrown at him over the religious gatherings. Michael Salman (pictured above) has been sentenced to two months in jail and more than $12,000 in fines because the group sessions at his home were against the city's building code, Fox News Radio reported.
"They're cracking down on religious activities and religious use," Salman told Fox News Radio. "They're attacking what I as a Christian do in the privacy of my home."
Vicki Hill, Phoenix's chief assistant city prosecutor, said religious freedom had nothing to do with it and that it was a matter of public safety.
"Any time you are holding a gathering of people continuously, as he does – we have concerns about people being able to exit the facility properly in case there is a fire," Hill told Fox News Radio. "It came down to zoning and proper permitting."
Video | News | Weather | Sports
Tue Jun 19 17:19:45 PDT 2012
Phoenix man accused of building church in backyard to be jailed
Since 2007, The Salman family has fought to say the building in their
backyard is for private worship, but Phoenix officials say it’s run as a
church, and not up to code. view full article
The battle between Salman and the city of Phoenix is a longstanding feud. Hill said that Salman's neighbors complained of the gatherings back in 2007 because they were causing too much traffic congestion. Originally, about 15 people would attent the Bible studies, Fox News Radio reported.
But that number began to grow, and that's when Phoenix officials sent Salman a letter saying that his living room gatherings were in violation of the city's building codes.
When he didn't stop hosting the groups, the Phoenix Fire Department broke up a Good Friday gathering Salman was hosting at his home in 2008 in which there were as many as 20 people in the backyard.
Salman then decided to construct a 2,000-square-foot building in his backyard and move the gatherings there. He said that he applied for and was granted the appropriate permits for the building.
Hill, however, said that the permits Salman received were for converting his garage into a game room.
Finally, in 2009, a dozen cops raided Salman's home and charged him with 67 code violations for hosting the gatherings.
Since then, the courts have sided with the city, saying that Salman was using the building as a church and, therefore, was subject to city zoning laws.
"He built a structure that he said wasn't a church that is, in fact, a church," Hill told Fox News Radio.
"The state is not saying that the Salmans can't run a church or have worship services at the location," read a Jan. 4, 2010, Arizona court ruling. "But the state is saying that if they do so, they must do it properly and in accord with fire and zoning laws."
Salman doesn't buy the court's argument and has claimed that Phoenix officials are discriminating against him for his religious beliefs.
"If I had people coming to my home on a regular basis for poker night or Monday Night Football, it would be permitted," he told Fox News Radio. "But when someone says to us we are not allowed to gather because of religious purposes – that is when you have discrimination."
Salman's attorney is appealing the ruling and Salman's sentencing, but unless a federal court intervenes, Salman will begin serving his sentence on July 9.
Friday, July 6, 2012
McIntyre votes for another bloated spending bill. Haven't we had enough?
Verne Strickland Blogmaster USA DOT COM July 6, 2012
If we ever plan to balance the budget – a goal Mike McIntyre purports to share – we will need to spend less money each subsequent. How else will we close the $1.3 trillion annual deficit without killing jobs with tax increases?
Last week, the House passed the FY 2013 appropriations bill for Transportation-HUD (H.R. 5972). While members of Congress promised to cuts spending from year to year, this bill actually increases spending on some of the most wasteful programs and projects.
Here is a synopsis from the Republican Study Committee of the extra spending in the bill:
Mike McIntyre voted for this bill, despite the increased in wasteful spending [roll call #450]. It’s not like McIntyre didn’t get a chance to vote against each individual item. He did – and he voted no:
Last week, the House passed the FY 2013 appropriations bill for Transportation-HUD (H.R. 5972). While members of Congress promised to cuts spending from year to year, this bill actually increases spending on some of the most wasteful programs and projects.
Here is a synopsis from the Republican Study Committee of the extra spending in the bill:
- Amtrak: $1.8 billion—$384 million above last year.
and $15 million more than the President’s request.
- Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority: $150 million—the same as last year
(or 49%) above last year.
- Essential Air Service: $214 million—same as President’s request, and $71 million
President’s request and $219.9 million more than last year.
- Tenant-based Rental Assistance: $19.1 billion—$60 million more than the
both last year and the President’s request.
- Community Development Block Grant: $3.34 billion—$396 million more than
last year and $12.3 million more than the request.
- Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation: $225.3 million—$10 million more than
Mike McIntyre voted for this bill, despite the increased in wasteful spending [roll call #450]. It’s not like McIntyre didn’t get a chance to vote against each individual item. He did – and he voted no:
- McClintock AMDT to eliminate the Essential Air Service rural pork program. This program provides $1000+ per-seat subsidy for airlines to fly into small airports that would otherwise be unprofitable. [roll call #417]
- Garrett AMDT to eliminate earmark to Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. [roll call #418]
- Broun AMDT to reduce by $6.5 million the amount provided for salaries and expenses of the Office of Public and Indian Housing at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This amendment would have merely kept spending at FY 2012 levels. [roll call #424]
- Broun AMDT to reduce by $110 million the amount provided for the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Public Housing Capital Fund Program. [roll call #429]
- Broun amendment to reduce by $12.3 million the amount provided for payment to the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation. This amendment merely keeps the spending in line with Obama’s budget request! [roll call #432]
- McClintock AMDT to eliminate all funding for the Community Development Fund for assistance to state and local governments, a total of $3.4 billion. [roll call #434]
About Patriot
Mitt Romney sizing up Chief Justice John Roberts: 'On second thought . . . "
Now, in the wake of Roberts' key vote to uphold President Barack Obama's health care law, that enthusiasm for the Chief Justice has all but disappeared.
In an interview on Wednesday, CBS News' Jan Crawford asked Romney whether he still would nominate justices like Roberts if elected president.
"Well, I certainly wouldn’t nominate someone who I knew was going to come out with a decision I violently disagreed with -- or vehemently, rather, disagreed with," Romney told Crawford. "And he reached a conclusion, I think, that was not accurate and not an appropriate conclusion. But that being said, he’s a very bright person, and I’d look for individuals that have intelligence and believe in following the Constitution.”
Crawford reported Monday that Roberts switched his vote after initially agreeing with the court's conservative bloc that the Affordable Care Act should be struck down.
"It gives the impression that the decision was made not on a constitutional foundation, but instead a political consideration about the relationship between the branches of government," Romney said. "But we don't really know the answers to those things until the justice speaks out -- maybe some time in history."
In an escape from the media spotlight, Roberts arrived in Malta on Tuesday to begin teaching a two-week course at the Mediterranean island's university.
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The Huffington Post | By Melissa Jeltsen and Patrick Svitek Posted: 07/05/2012 1:01 pm Updated: 07/05/2012 2:12 pm