Life In Sherman Oaks

Efforts in the United States to control health care costs ($2.6 trillion in 2010) are largely divided by the debate over (a) stronger role for government regulation or (b) market-based models that encourage greater competition. We are a nation that believes in competition. We believe that through competition, the best product or service is created. That if many people are offering a service or product, the people who offer the [...]

Who is this Ayn Rand that Republicans like Paul Ryan (the author of the 2013 GOP budget) follow and what did she teach that some Republicans like so much? Sometimes we can understand what people believe when we know a little bit about their background. And that’s probably the case with Ayn Rand. Ayn Rand was born in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1905. A city of starvation during World War [...]

Conservatives are telling Americans that health care in America is worse off since Medicare was passed. That Medicare actually caused the cost of health care to rise. That before Medicare, doctors and hospitals would take care of the poor for free and would again, were it not for Medicare. So let’s look at these claims, one by one. 1. In 1962, approximately 51% of all persons over the age of [...]

Some politicians, in the summer of 20010, told seniors that The Affordable Care Act would (a) slash Medicare by $500 billion and (b) implement death panels. Some politicians are continuing these claims during the Presidential campaign. Neither of these claims are correct. If you are conservative, you can be angry at me for saying that. But it is the truth and after all, isn’t the truth what is really important? [...]

The phrase “general Welfare” is the only phrase to appear twice in the United States Constitution. It first appears in the preamble to the Constitution and then later in Section 8. It’s important for seniors, in particular, to understand the background of the phrase, because it is Section 8 of the Constitution’s “general Welfare” clause that the Supreme Court found Social Security to be Constitutional. Exactly what does Section 8 [...]

The GOP Leader of the house, John Boehner of Ohio, gave a speech on the debt limit to Wall Street on Monday, May 9, 2011. In that speech, John Boehner seemed to be backing away from the GOP plan (crafted by Paul Ryan with the help of the Heritage Foundation, and put forth last month) – to replace the current system of Medicare Health Insurance Program Americans have enjoyed for [...]

Rep. Paul Ryan and the GOP began attacking AARP this week as a “left wing” group. CLICK HERE FOR ARTICLE. And I took particular personal issue with this, because I was able to become a gerontologist because of AARP back in 1975. So — what is AARP and what does it do? The American Association of Retired Persons, has 40 million members and acts as an advocate for seniors citizens [...]

Originally, John Boehner asked for $36 million in cuts to the Federal budget. The Democrats have offered up $33 million; but the GOP refuses to compromise. Do we have a deficit problem? Absolutely. But let us all recall that in December, the GOP gave 6,600 of the wealthiest Americans $25 billion in estate tax cuts. All millionaires in the U.S. received a total of $61 billion in tax cuts. And [...]

According to the October 2010 FACT SHEET FROM KAISER, the health care reform law gradually lowers out-of-pocket costs in the coverage gap of Part D Medicare. Beginning in 2011, seniors who reach the gap will receive a 50% manufacturers discount on the total cost of brand name drugs. Beginning in 2011, additional subsidies for generic drugs and beginning in 2013, additional subsidies for brand name drugs, will be phased in [...]

Chances are, you will need some sort of are in your senior years. 70% of all long term care is provided by families. But private long term care insurance policies rarely pay for long term care at home. If they do, they are generally very expensive and have stringent requirements. But if you plan to work for at least another 5 years, there is an affordable alternative. Included in the [...]

When Do I have a Guaranteed Issue Right to purchase Medigap outside of my initial enrollment period? (Initial enrollment period is November 15 through December 31, 2010. Here are the specifics: (1) If your Medicare Advantage Program is leaving Medicare (2) Your Medicare Advantage Program stops providing policies in your area. (3) You move out of your Medicare Advantage plan service area. (4) You have an employer group or union [...]

House Roll #603 Dec 2, 2010 3:36 PM On Passage – House – S 3307 Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 AYE Passed 264-157, 13 not voting

In 2008, Exxon Mobile made $45 billion in profits. It didn’t need a government bailout. But until President Obama, it’s always received one. Why? The oil business has always been considered strategic to the national interest of the country. That’s why we went to Iraq. Because oil is strategically important to us. So, we give the oil company tax break to ensure their survival. Well yes now, a $45 billion [...]

Frustrated by the horrendous delays by BP, the President is readying to seize the BP claims process for those damaged by the reckless actions of BP in the Gulf. The President will speak on the Gulf this evening in his first national address to the nation.

Here’s a great example of how words can really mean everything. The Recovery Act IS the Stimulus. But someone…(cough,cough,cough), has managed to make the American people think — stimulus:BAD! recovery:GOOD! The same Republicans who bashed the President’s Stimulus Bill? They have been running around to those ribbon cutting ceremonies like crazy! And Governor Sanford of South Carolina how said he would not take one penny of this unconstitutional stimulus/recovery act [...]

We have a Problem. A Serious Problem. Our government isn’t working. We had an election in 2008, in which the Democrats won a supermajority. Something that neither party had achieved for decades. The Democrats had run on a platform of reform. Health reform, tax reform, Wall Street Reform and War Reform. In other words — change. Change requires action. Up until this Congress, Change required a majority in the House [...]

Over the past several weeks, we’ve heard Republicans like Susan Collins complain that the Obama administration blew it with the Christmas Bomber. We’ve heard other Republicans state he should have never been read his rights. That he should have been subject to military law so that he wouldn’t be able to have a lawyer. That the Obama Administration really screwed up by not waterboarding the man instead of taking him [...]

In 1963, the Supreme Court ruled in the case of Gideon v. Wainwright that state courts are required under the Sixth Amendment of the Constitution to provide counsel in criminal cases for defendants who are unable to afford their own attorneys. The Christmas bomber has an attorney because the 6th amendment to the United States Constitution (passed in 1791) requires that he be given one.

Republicans are up in arms that the Christmas bomber was read his Miranda rights. But then, Republicans have never liked the Miranda rights decision in the first place. So what is it and where did it come from? In 1966, the U.S. Supreme Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren in a case called Miranda v. Arizona, and in a landmark 5-4 decision held that both inculpatory and exculpatory statements made [...]

Crime Reports for Sherman Oaks can be found here: Sherman Oaks Crime Reports