THE GREAT LIBERAL CONSPIRACY
Americans are scared, they are afraid of The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, The Post Dispatch, CNN, CBS, ABC, NBC, Associated Press, Reuters and anybody else in the elite media. The corporate media has been at the center of scandal, hypocrisy, indecency and biased views for their hatred of President George Bush and the Right Wing agenda. These are the screeching cries of the Right Wing Neo-Cons themselves. They paint the picture of the big bad liberal media spin machine scared of going to war, wanting to steal your Bibles, kill babies, expose your children to homosexual/heterosexual orgies and tax you into poverty.

The bashing is constant, but where is it coming from? It’s coming from the outlets of talk radio and the FOX News Channel. Why do they do this?...because of ratings. The genre of combat talk radio and T.V. has become the standard of expressing opinions and letting you figure out what the facts are. It’s along the lines of the National Inquirer and any sensational rag magazine. Combat media is entertainment and it generates ratings. Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter know it and they succeeded. The way to get to the top is to attack those at the top; Bill O’Reilly knows this first hand when News Corp. went after Al Franken. The lawsuit brought tons of attention and publicity which made Al’s book a best seller, a taste of Bill’s own medicine.

Conservative radio hosts blame any group that dislikes the President aka “Lefty Loons” for pairing themselves with the likes of Michael Moore, George Soros and Hollywood activists. Most people that tend to vote for the Democratic Party don’t know these propagandaists. They don’t even consider themselves a Liberal or Leftist. The con-entertainers use these labels as their tactic of an Blue State vs. Red State, Us vs. Them, Liberal vs. Conservative, Pro-War vs. Anti-War, Good vs. Evil mentality. Conservative entertainers label themselves as such so you make no mistake that you are on the good side and everything I say you agree with. Other tactics are used to identify what side you are on:

1. You express the love of your country… more than you express the love for your spouse.
2. Acknowledge every military veteran. They made a choice to serve their country and I will only if I have to. I and many others including Sean, Bill, Rush, etc. have chosen a different path.
3. You love country music and despise Hip Hop, Rap music.
4. Trying to shed that old rich white man Republican image by siding yourself with Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell, Clarence Thomas, Alan Keyes, Bill Cosby and other minority Republicans.
5. You express your faith on your sleeve.

And a side has been created by them and is now known as “They”. Just a simple mention of the word “They”, the con-entertainers subliminally take everybody who may not agree with the Iraq War or don’t mind hearing a gay sibling getting married and merge them into a crowd of Anti-War, Soldier hating, flag burning, bible burning melting pot of communist revolutionaries. Let me tell you something, there is no “They”, there are only individuals. Listen to specifics, when Bill O’Reilly says “They”, does he mentions names? Does he mention references? No, he mentions organizations like the NAACP, ACLU and The New York Times. All of which are individuals with their own agenda, but they are hardly liberal and there is no Liberal Conspiracy.

GDP Revised Higher on Robust Spending:
WASHINGTON -- U.S. economic growth was better during the summer than first believed, the government said Tuesday in a surprise upward adjustment based on higher consumer spending and sales of goods overseas.
Gross domestic product increased during July through September at a 3.9% annual rate, faster than the 3.7% pace initially estimated, the Commerce Department said in a report that also indicated falling corporate profits and tame inflation.

FLEXABLE SPENDING ACCOUNTS
So the company I work for is offering a seperate healthcare program on top of the standard group healthcare. This program is also called Health Savings Accounts, which is also known as part of George Bush's Ownership Society (OS). These accounts allow you to contribute a portion of your pre-tax pay and lets you use the money accrued for medical purposes that standard healthcare programs don't cover. HSA's have been available since January 1 2004, but it hasn't caught on as well as the Bush Administration has hoped. Restrictions such as a high deductable, a cap on the amount contributed and it's use it or lose it policy has hampered it's way into the mainstream.

Instead of bitch and moan about the deterioration of group pensions and benefits, I looked at this with an open mind. I decided to experiment with this new individual ownership way of life. I met with HR to fully understand this program. I learned that this program will not replace my standard healthcare plan, it will also lower my income taxes and it will cover medical expenses such as medical/pharmiceutical co-pays, eye exams, glasses, over the counter drugs, cosmetic surgery, diet plans, accupuncture, etc.

The ass kicker is I have spent hours on my calculator trying to figure out how much should I contribute, this is not easy when I'm very low maintenance because I haven't been to a doctor in years! I figured since I'm getting married and getting older I have to contribute something and I promised my fiancee to get a physical, an eye exam, my neck and back checked. A low annual contribution $500 is sufficient enough, but if I don't use all of it I don't get reimbursed for anything left over...that sucks. As for tax savings, I will save $135 on the year. An important stipulation for signing up for the FSA is a reduction of my future Social Security entitlement, I found the tiny print that my HR did not mention. It's not guaranteed that every medical expense will be accepted, you have to save all your receipts and be audited for all expenses. Giving time into maintaining this account has so far caused some stress (I don't get stressed much) and consumed time which has taken me away from other things. The result is consumed time and managing away from my future family as these programs expand and reaches out to other OS programs such as PRA's, PREA's, etc., it's just too cumbersome.

To sum it up, the Flexable Spending Account really serves me no purpose but to save up paying for minor medical expenses, the key here is the tax savings. If this is suppose to completely take over group healthcare coverage, we are all in big trouble. I'll stay in this program and see how it rides out. FSA's and HSA's are just loopholes for a tax break.

Russia Developing New Nuclear Missile
Nov 17, 6:52 AM (ET)
MOSCOW (AP) - President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Russia is developing a new form of nuclear missile unlike those held by other countries, news agencies reported.

Speaking at a meeting of the Armed Forces' leadership, Putin reportedly said that Russia is researching and successfully testing new nuclear missile systems.

"I am sure that ... they will be put in service within the next few years and, what is more, they will be developments of the kind that other nuclear powers do not and will not have," Putin was quoted as saying by the ITAR-Tass news agency.

Putin reportedly said: "International terrorism is one of the major threats for Russia. We understand as soon as we ignore such components of our defense as a nuclear and missile shield, other threats may occur."

No details were immediately available, but Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said earlier this month that Russia expected to test-fire a mobile version of its Topol-M ballistic missile this year and that production of the new weapon could be commissioned in 2005.

News reports have also said Russia is believed to be developing a next-generation heavy nuclear missile that could carry up to 10 nuclear warheads weighing a total of 4.4 tons, compared with the Topol-M's 1.32-ton combat payload.

Topol-Ms have been deployed in silos since 1998. The missiles have a range of about 6,000 miles and reportedly can maneuver in ways that are difficult to detect.

Earlier this year, a senior Defense Ministry official was quoted as telling news agencies that Russia had developed a weapon that could make the United States' proposed missile-defense system useless. Details were not given, but military analysts said the claimed new weapon could be a hypersonic cruise missile or maneuverable ballistic missile warheads.

Government Entitlements.
According to the extreme right wing conservatives, any American that is receiving Social Security, any American receiving unemployment, any American attending public school, any American that recieves a federal grant, any American receiving COBRA, and any American receiving Medicare/Medicaid is a Socialist, Marxist or Communist and only depends on government handouts so they don’t have to work. The anti-public program people believe they don’t have to contribute to programs or infrastructure that all of us have used directly or indirectly in our lifetime. These self righteous individuals feel they don’t have to pay taxes that benefits others because:

A) They created their wealth through public programs and feel that they no longer need to contribute.
B) They inherited their wealth.
C) They went through life without public assistance…I don’t know anybody who has managed to do this.

Government programs such as Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid take up the largest percentage of all federal income tax paid.

23% go to Social Security.
12% go to Medicare.
7% go to Medicaid.

These programs are essential to provide for our most vulnerable Americans, the old and disabled. To say that this is just a handout is ludicrous, these Americans devoted their life and have contributed to society and must now be protected from poverty and illness.

For those like Bill O’Reilly that despise our unemployment system, lets’ put this into perspective. We provide programs that assist the poor, by right wing stereotype; the poor are lazy uneducated freeloading vagabonds. Not once do people like Bill O’Reilly consider the risks of our capitalistic society. It’s like a Casino, you win some and you lose some…a lot are just down on their luck. Do we let them stay poor, no. We let them participate in programs so they will be able to contribute to our economy. The most staggering facts are as follows:

14% of federal income tax go to unemployment benefits, food stamps, supplemental security income, child nutrition and earned income tax credits...

PLUS!!

...all other activities annually funded by the Congress, such as education, training, science, space exploration, technology, parks, environmental protection, agriculture, commerce, housing, transportation, disaster relief, justice, and treasury.

Unemployment benefits and other so-called entitlements are just a fraction of the 14% category it falls under!

Now check this out. 11% of your federal income tax only pays off the INTEREST of the U.S. Budget Deficit. The same Budget Deficit that has now swelled to almost $400 billion and continues to grow. Bill O’Reilly is not looking out for you, just himself so he doesn’t have to contribute to the society he is capitalizing from.

To put this 11% into more perspective. We pay more taxes to the interests of the U.S. Deficit than to:

• Veterans Healthcare and Pension Programs.
• Military Personnel costs.
• Public School funding.
• Law enforcement.
• Space programs.
• Infrastructure including roads, bridges and mass transit.

Hmmm...
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Shoppers dug out the plastic in September, as a hefty jump in credit and charge card use pushed consumer credit up a bigger-than-expected $9.8 billion, a Federal Reserve report showed Friday.
The September gain in consumer non-mortgage credit outstanding was above Wall Street analysts' projections of a $6.5 billion gain and may reflect growing confidence in the economy. August credit outstanding was revised upward, to a $2.2 billion gain after an initially reported $2.4 billion decrease.

I beleive in my prediction I mentioned something about personal debt? That was quick!

The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Employers aggressively hired new workers in October, adding 337,000 people to their payrolls after a sluggish summer, but the unemployment rate rose fractionally to 5.5 percent.

This has been the best news in months for our economy. Although the unemployment rate went up almost unchanged from 5.4 last month, the job situation has increased for 14 staight months. The Buearu of Labor Statistics cited the most hiring in the construction and clean up sector due to the Florida hurricanes. I beleive employment will continue to increase because of the Holidays and the report yesterday that productivity is down, which is a good sign that employers will start hiring again.

President Bush spoke today about Social Security. This is part of his "Ownership Society".

The privatization of SS is good in theory, IF you put part of your paycheck into a private account (it's your choice to do so). And IF you can afford to keep funding this account without getting into debt (most of us are). And IF the stock market doesn't crash near the end of your retirement.
Let's not forget that about 60% of working adults have less than $5,000 in IRA, savings, 401k's and other retirement accounts. How many of the 60% are going to invest in their future and how many are going to spend it because of what they need right now? In the past 20 years personal savings have gone down from 9.39% to 2.13%, it's a even greater decline since the Great Depression. Lets educate those 60% on saving and investing, not do away with SS. Social Security is protection against poverty, it's not meant for investing.

As my first entry into this e-diary, I'll give you my predictions we will face in next four years George Bush will be in office.

Prepare for:
Less insurance coverage and higher fees.
Less funding for public shcools.
Less personal savings, less spending, more debt.
Sluggish job increase.
A less secular nation.
More foreign isolation.
Implementation of the ownership society.
The drilling of ANWR.
Increased CEO salaries and benefits, regardless of performance.
Increased corporate loopholes.
Inadequate veteran benefits.
Small business policy failures.
More fiscally irresponsible tax cuts.
New conservative Supreme Court Judges.
New conservative Federal Reserve Chief.