Worldly Chatter

 ”In a new term, we will lead an aggressive effort to enroll millions of children who are eligible but not signed up for government health insurance programs. We will not allow, he said, a lack of attention, or information, to stand between these children and the health care they need.” Fox News 

How quickly we forget our promises Mr. President!

I doubt I am not the only one infuriated with President Bush and his veto on the State Children’s Health Insurance Program’s expansion of funds the other day. Outraged and boiling mad when I think about that man and his inability to take care of the nation’s people and their problems. I simply cannot believe he can be so heartless! I could go on about the man and what I think of his policies in Iraq but for right now this veto has given me plenty of fuel to go on a rant ten pages long but I promise it won’t be that long.
SCHIP, as it is known, provides health coverage for roughly 6 million of America’s children whose parents don’t qualify for Medicaid but don’t make enough for private insurance. Congress passed a bill extending funds for the program to further aid children in the program but also enough funds to add an addition 4 million children in need; $35 billion over the course of five years is what was approved by Congress. Leave it to the wise leader to reject something to help so many and suggest that $5 billion over five years would be sufficient. No wait, if more money is needed, more than his 20% increase than he is willing to work with Congress but Congress wants to override his veto stating it isn’t enough. Someone needs to tell him the rising medical costs and the fact that more employers drop their coverage to employees because it is getting to be too much; either that or they are greedy. In either case who can afford the doctors bills, hospital stays or the rising costs of medical coverage.

After I left my father’s house, but before I moved here, I had one job that would give me benefits. That is six years of working and I had benefits for just shy of two years of that. There was a period where I worked two jobs and still couldn’t muster enough for insurance. To tell you the truth, I couldn’t think about such things. A roof over my head, food in my belly and some clothes were my main priorities. I lived with my ex and her family for a nice while and even then the two of us struggled. When we finally got a place of our own, life was by no means easy. I finally had that job that gave me benefits and they took my costs out of my pay but that didn’t mean life was peachy. I still had co-pays and things the coverage just wouldn’t cover and with food and rent expensive as it was, you didn’t always go to the doctor like you should. My point is this. People need this, I could have used it and so could have my ex. There are millions of people just like me and her who struggle everyday to make ends meet and don’t get medical because they simply cannot afford it.

Part of Bush’s issue with this whole thing is that he is afraid that the health care system will eventually turn into a government run system. CNN
Bush used his radio address to once again make the case that he believes the spending increase sought primarily by Democrats is a step “toward their goal of government-run health care for every American.” “Government-run health care would deprive Americans of the choice and competition that comes from the private market,” he said. “It would cause huge increases in government spending.”

Now this is where I have a big problem. What would be wrong with a system where the government made sure its people had what they needed. Take for example Canada, while their health care system is not socialized medicine, the government does pay for nearly 100% of the costs while putting in little for prescription drug costs, dental and emergency medical services. Even with the three not always fully covered it takes a lot of the weight off the Canadian. What the government doesn’t pay for the average person can still afford what it doesn’t, besides we all know how cheap prescriptions are in Canada, a lot of Americans get their prescriptions online through Canadian sites. The Netherlands at one point had the socialized medicine, or government run medical system where they monitor and cover the costs, making it affordable for its people. Dutchie actually had this once upon a time, not too long ago either. She paid every quarter for her coverage and it was €150 and that is including dental and extra insurance. However, she at one point only paid thirty. Do you know what happened? There were people who were rather wealthy who thought it was unfair that they had this system. The less you made the less you paid and the more you made, the more you paid. They thought it wasn’t fair because people with smaller incomes could get medical coverage through the government, people over a certain annual pay would get coverage through the private sector. They thought it wasn’t fair; make it a level playing field. So now Dutchie pays €100 a month, not a quarter and the coverage is less than what she had. If you make under, roughly €20,000 a year, you can apply for a tax break to help cover the costs. It isn’t much but at least they can get help right? This privatized coverage hurts a lot of people. Here in the Netherlands it is mandated to have insurance or else you are fined until you do and then you have to pay back coverage. So either way you have to pay for it and it hurts. Between me and Dutchie we pay €250 a month to have medical and dental coverage where before it would have cost us €200 a quarter and would have had better coverage. This is what privatization does. At least with the old system everyone could afford it. There is one good thing about the system we now have here and this was in practice even before it was privatized. Children from time of birth until they are 18 have full medical and dental coverage. It doesn’t cost the parents anything no matter what their child needs. I understand that privatizing things helps the market grow, in theory, and it gives the public options they otherwise wouldn’t have but one must consider the fact that almost 70% of the American public struggle to have coverage… Most don’t actually have any medical coverage at all and therefore either doesn’t go to the doctors when needed or pile on so much in the way of medical bills that they never see the light of day from it. How does that help the country? The fact that he has vetoed the chance for so many children to have the medical attention they so desperately need makes me sick. He is a selfish, ignorant man who can’t even see what he does to the people he is supposed to protect. Why veto money needed to take care of today’s children so they can have a chance to be the future? He says it would increase government spending. Does he think that if the poorer people had a chance, there might be a decrease in spending elsewhere? There is government spending for Medicaid and Medicare, if it was rolled all into one, wouldn’t that decrease spending. Besides it isn’t like Dutchie didn’t pay for her government controlled medical coverage, she most certainly did, it was just cheaper so if you make it nationwide, you would still get money coming in from the people but they could still afford it. Makes sense to me. Then again, I am just an opinionated American; they won’t listen to what I have to say anyway. People listen to good ol’ Mr. President who is all about the big buck and breaks his promises to poor children. Oh yeah, listen to him instead!

Read about coverage in Holland here and here.

SCHIPS, President Bush Vetos, American Medical coverage, State Childrens Insurance Program, Veto on SCHIPS, Worldly Chatter, Government assistance, Socialized Medical

A fellow 451press writer posted an article that caught my attention and tore my heart up reading it. Lez Keep It Real, I thank you! It is the story of Brett Conrad and Patrick Atkins’, their 25 years together and Patrick’s’ sudden illness in Indiana. In March of 2005, Patrick had a ruptured aneurysm and later a stroke while in hospital care. When Brett Conrad went to see him, the Atkins’ family barred him from seeing their son. They were against the relationship from the start and do not want their son’s partner of 25 years to visit. This has made it all the way to court! They lived together for 25 years, sharing bank accounts, renting various apartments before finally buying a home together. It meant nothing. Guardianship went immediately to Patrick’s parents where he now lives. The court granted Brett Conrad visitation rights but left guardianship in the hands of the parent. The article can be found on Lindsey’s Lez Keep it Real page.

As I read this article aloud to Dutchie, it really got us both thinking. As you are aware, September 3^rd is our wedding day. It is legally binding and I will be guardian of Dutchie should anything happen, as she is mine. I would be responsible for her, the assets and debts we share and anything else that may come up. It will be a marriage just as any heterosexual couples with all of its benefits. I will have what so many gay people in my own country desperately need, security, protection and peace of mind. I am so blessed to have this and I know it every day I wake. Many people want what I have for the very reasons that Atkins’ and Conrad wanted it, to ensure that they would be able to care for each other and not have the law run amuck of their lives and tear them apart.

In the Netherlands, Canada, Spain, Britain and Belgium, our marriage will matter and upheld to the fullest of the law. If anything were to happen, Dutchie and I would be able to care for each other, as these countries acknowledge we are married.

What happens when we visit America?

As we read this story our hearts sank for them and a realization began to hit us. Our marriage won’t mean jack in America! What if something were to happen to me, would Dutchie be able to maintain guardianship over my health and wishes? On the other hand, would she have to wait in the waiting room until my parents arrived before she could even see me? In NY, for example, there is no law allowing us to even have a civil ceremony. We do not have any form of NY documentation on Power of Attorney nor will our marriage license mean anything to them as they do not recognize gay marriage. What in the world would happen then?

What if we visited Texas, Tennessee or California where none of my family lives, would anything Dutchie does or says matter in how I am cared for? The thought frightens me terribly! The very thing I will be blessed to have in less than a month won’t mean anything in America and this story makes me wonder if the same thing could happen to us even though we are legally married in the eyes of the law under the Kingdom of the Netherlands? I don’t believe for a second that my parents would deny Dutchie anything, they know her, love her and have welcomed her into the family. However, there are couples from Canada, Belgium and Holland who travel to America and are married. What if anything happened while on vacation? Would America accept them as guardians and do what the partner feels is in the best interest of their spouse or would they call the next of kin?

It really makes me wonder… 

 Everyone is equal under the law, isn’t that how it goes? yeah…

gay marriage, glbt rights, Gay Marriage in America, Marriage in the Netherlands, Worldy Chatter, Patrick Atkins and Brett Conrad of Indiana

And here I thought that electing Democrats was going to be a good thing for the country! Not when they back down and give into pressure from Bush and his administration, in my most humbled opinion, they lack the backbone we saw in the elections. I first saw the story in NOSheadlines a news agency here in Holland, titled, ‘Big Bush is watching you!’ According to the news articles, congress gave Bush and his administration power to view and eavesdrop on overseas communications. Phone, internet phone and emails can be, and is, viewed to see about overseas terrorist activity. They do not need a warrant, they do not need much of a reason that it might contain, or pertain, to Al Qaeda. This bill, which Bush will undoubtedly sign this week, will last six month, in which they have just enough time to come up with something permanent to replace the outdated, 30 year old, FISA laws.

We all can recall how hard it is for people to get back something taken from the government. It is just like how long it took blacks to get rights, women rights or even if the tax man makes a mistake, they aren’t in any hurry to mend it now are they? Same thing here and I agree with Nadler, once done, it will be a battle to get our privacy and rights back to us.

What does this mean to me or to you? Well, not only can Bush eavesdrop on Americans and their communications with other Americans or people overseas but if they saw fit they could intercept communications from overseas coming into America and no doubt won’t stop there either. There are communication lines that are foreign to foreign that has a connecting station in America that current law stated America needed a warrant to intercept those calls. Now, thanks to this new bill, America does not need a warrant to listen in on calls or emails that aren’t even going to America but merely partially connected through America.

So, if I call my mother, father or email friends and they see a constant flow into America and are curious about it, they can listen in, read my mail and ponder on whether I am a threat or not. As Dutchie pointed out to me, how farfetched is the Simpson’s movie now? If you haven’t seen it yet, do so! In one scene, the government has a huge room dedicated to listening in and overhears the Simpsons talking on the train and subsequently a huge scene takes place where the government steps in to take control based on one conversation with Marge and her children.

Am I being monitored by my own government as I sit here in Holland because I make constant communications to America? I wouldn’t put it past them. It makes me sick that Americans are watched and overheard for the sake of security! How much of it is security and how much of it is executive power going to someone’s head? Really now, can you recall the last battle the executive branch had with Congress and the Judicial branch over warrantless wiretapping. Nothing has changed except Bush got what he wanted all along, a way to do it legally.

Oh it infuriates me! Not only do they want to know if I am gay, have a practicing faith and what I ate for breakfast when I land in my own country but now they want to know what I said to my mother last night! When will it stop, after congress gets a backbone or after Bush is out of office? Either way, too much damage done, too much mistrust for the government was created, and one wonders if it will ever stop once the ball starts rolling.

Further reading can be found on CNN and New York Times as well as links above.

Spying Bill passed by Congress, Big Bush is Watching you, Worldly chatter, Bush administration, FISA, wiretapping, Civilian surveillance, Government Eavesdropping

You read the title right, there was a deal made between the US and the European Union that allows for Homeland Security to gain access to information obtained during reservations made when traveling to the US from Europe. This information would be placed in a database and stored for a period, for how long is still in negotiations, this information will aid in keeping track of habits, suspected individuals and will be able to detect pretty much anything they like!

Now, for years now, when you travel to America they keep a record of your name, flight, credit cards, where you are from and any travel partners listed. Dutchie must fill out a waver when she flies over and of course the information you use at the airport is used. What in the world does my sexual orientation and political opinions matter to national security!? US Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff praised the pact as an “essential screening took for detecting potentially dangerous transatlantic travelers.” He further said that if the information was available on 9/11 they could have identified many of the 19 hijackers by linking their methods of payments, phone numbers and seat assignments.

Brilliant I say, do you think that the hijackers would have voluntarily said their religion, phone numbers and given ALL the information that would have linked them! No, I seriously doubt it! The article went on to say how the pact aid in establishing people with special needs who request wheel chairs and try to bring on explosives on board or warnings of a political gathering where there might be a chance of danger or even communicable diseases. Staffs at airlines all across Europe are urged to ‘push’ for information from its passengers.

What happened to a little privacy? Next they are going to want to know what I had for breakfast! All right, I understand wanting to know about communicable diseases. What does that have to do with my sexual orientation? What does any philosophical beliefs or trade union memberships have to do with any of it? America just wants to keep tabs on everyone comes in and to a point I can understand. Knowing who is coming in is serious and I completely get that but one does not need to know the most personal of information for me to be allowed into my own country! Oh yeah, this applies to us Americans living abroad too not just Europeans visiting. We all get the same treatment, scrutinized and slapped in a database for use of National Security!

Now there are a few who are not happy with this, civil rights groups, people who love their privacy and anyone who doesn’t see the point to any of this generally but if the EU didn’t America threatened to send less flights over to Europe. How do you like that one! If America wants it, America gets it I suppose. Though if you ask me, they have no business knowing I am gay. What the hell does it matter to them? I see no reason to fork it over and besides where would I give it, when the personnel checking me in ‘pushes’ for information? Please.

Homeland Security, Worldly Chatter, Travel News, Personal Data used when traveling

While watching the news today something got Dutchie infuriated and I cannot fault her either. It was the new immigration plan to allow undocumented workers in the US prior to January 2007 immediate authorization to work. They would have to pay a five thousand dollar penalty plus the costs of paperwork and processing. There are stipulations about leaving and coming back. There is a process where they work for two years, leave for a year, come back for two years and do it twice more, a points merit system. Heads of households have to go back to their native country within eight years with guarantees of coming back. There are a few different ways to enter according to new policy. It is a 380-page plan so the details are far from all here but there would be a way to make these illegal’s, legal despite the hardships of leaving and paying the fine, which can be paid over time according to CNN.

I, as you are aware, took the legal way to gaining residence to the Netherlands. Rules that I had abide by just so that the IND would give me a pink card. I had to pay the process fees that ended up costing over € 1000, had to make sure I had more than adequate insurance coverage and a place to stay. Dutchie had to make sure that she had a contract with a company either one year or permanent. She had to make a certain amount of money to sponsor me and prove that she could take care of me without government aide. I never took a job from any Dutch person, never asked for money or assistance from the government or any other agency. I landed, let myself be known to the IND and once I got my permit I went and got my tax number, a bank card, I made the appropriate calls to get integration underway and am currently looking for employment. It was a struggle at times to come up with the money; it took a lot of hard work on Dutchies part to gain that permanent contract and financial means to sponsor me. Yet we did it and did it legally. I cannot help but feel that these illegals are being handed something sweet for breaking the law.

There are no legal means for me to bring Dutchie to America legally. There is no job awaiting her and this is not a heterosexual relationship therefore there isn’t a way. Yet people who break the law and hide now given a chance to stay. How is this right? I fully understand that there are people who feel that my relationship is wrong somehow given squat. Whether I like the attitudes and judgments placed upon me and my relationship, I understand they are there. However, even with the judgments and less than equal treatments, I have not done anything wrong. I have not broken the law done absolutely nothing to merit this treatment. I must move away from my home to be happy. Yet someone breaking the law, hiding and taking jobs from Americans are going to be granted access to the country I cannot bring my partner into! Dutchie has done nothing wrong; she has broken no laws and done nothing to be denied the right to enter into the country that screams land of opportunities.

If you break the law, you should be punished, not rewarded. If this goes through it is saying what they did is fine, come on in anyway. Telling them they have to pay a penalty and have to go back now and again is the only punishment I can see and it is a slap on the wrist as far as I am concerned. Every single illegal would be granted rights and privileges allowed under the American law.

Illegals are given this opportunity. This is going to clean up the illegals and bring them from the shadows and into the light according to President Bush, into society and out of hiding and shame. Where is my opportunity? I would be able to care for her, provide for her and without the aid of the government. Where is the opportunity for people who want to come to America the legal way?
If it sounds like I am complaining it is because I am. It is the only way to make enough noise sometimes. It is the only way to be heard. I had to leave my country and if the country were as equal, fair and everything else I was told as a child then I would not have had to leave it. I am an American and I am pissed off because it feels as though being an American gets you squat. People breaking the law are being granted something I would do the legal way. Do not break the law and then expect people to bend over backwards for you to let you stay but that is what is going on. Politicians finding a way to appease the American public and the illegal’s in the country with little success. They are only appeasing the illegal’s. I don’t get it, I simply do not get it. Saying it is ok to be illegal, break the law, we will reward you! I don’t understand, I don’t see any of this working.

Immigration policies, American illegals, American immigration policies, gay rights, illegal immigrant rights, granting access to America