Vote For Gains, Belinky and Traficanti

I only partially follow local politics. From time to time, many of my friends ask who they should vote for on the local level. So I try to recommend those folks that I either know personally, have had worked with professionally, or have first-hand knowledge of his/her job performance. This year, there are three.

For Probate Judge: Mark Belinky. Judge Belinky was appointed Probate Judge upon the resignation of Tim Maloney. Maloney’s tenure as Probate Judge was problematic, as many of you know. You can draw your own conclusions regarding the circumstances of his departure. That being said, Judge Belinky is probably the best probate judge Mahoning County has seen since I began practicing in 1975, and that includes the terms of Judge Henderson and Judge Morley. Judge Belinky has brought sanity and professionalism to the Probate Court. His reforms have made the court user friendly on all levels. He has revamped the rules so that everyone, including those citizens who have contact with the court, can get whatever the task done quickly, efficiently, fairly, and with a minimum of hassle. His open door policy and easy accessibility is refreshing and greatly appreciated by both lawyers and their clients who for the most part are in stressful situations. He has done a great job in turning a court that was in severe trouble into a successful, friendly and modern operation. He deserves to be elected to a full term on his own merit.

For Prosecutor: Paul Gains. I have known Prosecutor Gains for many years. He is an honorable and honest man, characteristics that have been lacking in that office from time to time. His is capable, responsible, hard working, and generally does a great job. There are those that may criticize him from time to time. But it is a thankless job, and one in which one would not expect to make many friends. His staff is efficient, and has done a credible job on all levels. He should be re-elected.

For County Commissioner: Anthony Traficanti. I can’t think of a more colorful individual who is representative of our area than Commissioner Traficanti. He was a student of mine when I taught Political Science at Youngstown State. He was a great student then, and he is a great guy now. I certainly don’t agree with him on all issues, and have questioned some of the decisions he has made; but of one thing I am certain. Whatever he has done or will do, it will be for what he views as the best interest of the County, whether you agree with him or not. He should be re-elected.

An Obama Presidency; What It Will Look Like

Trip on back to the 1960's to learn an old lesson again. Beware of Utopians. Whether from the right or the left, no political promise of a utopia ever works out. There is always a price in the small print. The nation will learn this lesson once again under Barack Obama. What will America look like under an Obama presidency? One only has to look at what he has said and what his party believes to get a glimpse.

Immigration: The doors will open up. Millions upon millions of Hispanics will flood into the country. Spanish will become a mandatory second language. Our signs will become bilingual as in Canada, the “example” America should be following according to the left. Schools will be required to teach in both English and Spanish. It will change forever the culture and mores of the United States.

Trade: Protectionism will raise its ugly head. Canada, our largest trading partner, is already in negotiations with the European Union to enter into a free trade zone agreement. Are they looking past the November election?

Big Government: You ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Obama’s roots are in the ghetto of Chicago. There will be massive increases in welfare benefits and entitlements aimed at the poor, but really geared to increasing the amount of Americans dependent on the largesse of the government. Welfare reform will be rolled back. ADC will be expanded. Medical benefit costs will skyrocket. Universal, mandatory preschool paid for by the Feds, will be intruding into your home. While in school, your young ones will begin sex education as defined by the government early. Meals will be provided, 3 each day. The gravy will be spilling off the gravy train.

Energy: There will be no more drilling for oil. More likely than not, the drilling already occurring will be curtailed. Price controls will be imposed on gasoline with rationing, and coupons issued to those that “can’t afford gas.” Thermostats will be regulated either overtly or through excise taxes placed on predetermined amounts of energy use established by the government. The United States will enter into the Kyoto Accords, notwithstanding that the rules only apply to us and not China, Russia, India, or Brazil. While there will be some increase in alternative energy sources, for the most part, environmentalists will stymie any attempt to develop any kind of alternative energy.

Transportation: Massive amounts of money will be spent on public transportation. You will be seeing lots of empty busses riding around, and empty trains going into the station. Café requirements will be increased for cars…but look also for new taxes on cars larger than a Cobalt.

Law Enforcement: Prisons will cease punishing and begin “rehabilitation.” Look for reduction or elimination of mandatory sentences, and the establishment of early release programs to take care of the racial imbalance in the prison system.

Schools: Charter schools will be eliminated. The NEA will be exercise total control over local school systems, which will be federally regulated in order to provide “fairness” in public education. Look for a national income tax to fund the schools.

Health Care: Get your 800 number ready to dial the government for approval for your MRI. You think that the insurance companies are difficult? Just wait until Uncle Sam takes control. Ask the people in Canada and Great Britain how well it is working out for them.

Media: The left doesn’t like criticism. Obama will attempt to eliminate talk radio, control bloggers, and regulate the content of television programs if something is said that his left wing buddies don’t like. The reinstitution of the Fairness Doctrine will spell the death knell for AM radio.

Farming: The EPA will be given broad ranging powers to regulate just about everything. Through implementation of ever stricter regulations for fertilizer, farm waste, rain runoff, exhaust from farm equipment, etc., the EPA will tacitly take control of the farms in a back door nationalization of the farming industry. Don’t think it will happen? Folks, they are already regulating your toilet.

Globalization: Look for Obama to cede United States sovereign authority to international organizations like the United Nations and the World Court. There are numerous “world” initiatives which will take away this nation’s right of self determination. We have outsourced jobs. Obama will outsource our freedom. By the way, remember it was Utopian Jimmy Carter who gave away the Panama Canal, which is now controlled by China.

Unions: Goodby to secret voting to determine employee unionization. When the boss says sign the union petition, you better sign it.

Taxes: Look for massive tax increases on the rich to pay for all of this. The Democrats define rich as anyone who makes over $42,000.00/year…really!! It may be an overt tax increase, but more likely than not will come in through the back door when you are not looking through such things as bracket creep and the alternative minimum tax. Look for top tax rates to once again approach 95%.

These aren’t things I have pulled out of thin air. These are positions espoused by the Democratic Party under Al Gore, John Kerry, and now Barack Obama, as well as his left wing buddies. This is what they stand for, and have said so over and over and over again. If you believe in those things, by all means, vote for Obama. As for the rest of us, if he gets elected, the midterm elections in two years can’t come soon enough.

Health Care: The Number 2 Issue

While the banking crisis is getting the lion share of media coverage, I have said numerous times that the number 1 problem facing this country is energy. It has supplanted our own monetary and fiscal regulatory agencies as the regulator of our economy. The headlines relating to the banking crisis are scary, but it will work itself out. It always does. The underlying energy problem, however, will still remain, reaping the rewards of 30 years of environmental dictatorship.

If energy is the number one problem, health care is number two, including Medicare, Medicaid, and general insurance issues for those both under and over 65. My experiences with the health care system in this country these past several years have been, in a word, awful. And it is getting worse. Here is a short list of my bad experiences with health care.

1) I cannot buy health care insurance. Although I am relatively healthy, I have had some problems over the years that preclude me from buying health care insurance. My wife carries our health insurance through her employer, and it makes it somewhat difficult for her to retire. Her retirement system currently allows me to buy it through it when she does retire, but there is no guaranty it will continue. There has been a lot of talk about cutting it out. Notwithstanding, the cost to me is almost ½ of her retirement income. It is expensive.

2) I cannot buy long term care insurance. Ever try to buy life insurance after the age of 50? Good luck. Long term care insurance is the same thing. Medicaid rules became draconian two years ago in an effort to force people to buy long term care insurance. The same issues I have relating to health care insurance also apply to long term care insurance. I have been refused by three separate companies.

3) Emergency room service is deadly. Have you tried to get emergency room service at St. Elizabeth’s Belmont lately? Be prepared to spend hours and hours and hours. When my mother had a stroke 6 years ago, I had to beg them to get her the needed blood thinning drug into her soon enough to prevent brain damage. Then, because there was no room at the inn, so to speak, they literally put her in a closet until they could find a room. She was in that closet for more than 24 hours. This place is set up as a trauma center. If you need help, get in line behind the gun shot or stab wounds. The pattern has repeated itself repeatedly when I, and other members of my family, needed emergency room care.

4) Emergency room service is deadly; Part Deux. My father suffered from prostate cancer and congestive heart failure. When he developed problems at home, his doctor said he needed a blood transfusion and told us to take him to the emergency room. They in turn, unbeknownst to me, pumped him full of fluids…the very worst thing you can do to someone with congestive heart failure. By the time my brother realized what they were doing, it was too late. They couldn’t reverse the effects and he died two days later. He only had a few months to live, and they would have been painful months…so we didn’t file any legal action. It is scary, nonetheless.

5) Elderly patients are given short shrift. My mother’s recent lengthy stay at St. Elizabeth’s was disturbing. I don’t want this to reflect on the staff of the floor she was on, as I believe it is an administrative problem more than a care problem, but her care was horrible. It isn’t that the folks weren’t nice, just not enough of them. Required assistance was non-existent as most of the staff was continually on the computer at the stations. The nurses’ aides were overworked, and seemed mostly interested in as whose patient belonged to whom. The floor my mother was on was generally senior oriented. The entire staff seemed to be dismissive as in “they are old, what difference does it make?” When it is your loved one, it makes a difference.

Throw in the outrageous cost of this questionable care, the nation is suffering a health care crisis that will continue to worsen and drain our individual pocketbooks, as well as the nation’s, in the future as the boomers reach the golden years. It must be addressed.