Stephen Martino's Posts (7)

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http://www.amazon.com/New-Reality-Alex-Pella-Book-ebook/dp/B00I82JG52/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=1-1&qid=1396311308

Best selling Political Thriller Written by Tea Party Patriot predicts economic and political outcome of viral pandemic similar to Ebola.
http://www.amazon.com/New-Reality-Alex-Pella-Book-ebook/dp/B00I82JG52/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=1-1&qid=1396311308

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brothers

Another First Amendment violation story recently hit the news with little outcry from the public. As our personal freedoms become more eroded by the day, people remain passive on the issue and ignore it as if it means nothing.

Regardless of your social beliefs, you should find the treatment of David and Jason Benham by HGTV troubling. I understand that some disagree with their Christian beliefs but that is certainly not the point nor is it the issue. The issue is that they lost their show on HGTV not because of what they did but what they believed.

While rapists, wife beaters, cheaters and crooks run rife in many of the professional sports leagues (and in Congress), we don’t kick those players out or ban the sport from TV. Instead, we continue to watch the game despite the immorality which takes place in them.

So what is the media now saying? The only thing worse than being a rapist, wife beater, cheater and crook is being a Christian or having conservative beliefs? This is absurd.

We are now finding censorship going to a whole new level. Will conservative checks now be done for every profession? If you attended a mass in which the pastor or priest demonized abortion, could you be out of a job. Will going to church like in the early Christian Roman days get you arrested?

We are heading to this point. My great grandfather was the first Martino to come to the USA in the early 20th century. He left Italy after he and his other 3 brothers were arrested for attending a democratic rally. His 3 brothers died in jail, and he came here to start a better life—in a place where freedom of speech was guaranteed by law.

Where has that guarantee gone? Now, we must censor our private lives to conform to the public norms? Are we living in Nazi Germany or some new 21st century fascist country?

We are quickly headed down the slippery slope of demagogy. Let us not slip too far before we can no longer get up.

http://www.martinoauthor.com/hgtv-takes-away-brothers-first-amendment-rights/

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sebelius

When I conjure up a vision of total failure, many things come to my mind including the Dodge Pinto, Kathleen Harding and now appropriately the health and human services secretary Kathleen Sebelius. Though my criticism may seems harsh, I think it’s certainly apropos when looking at the facts. Though I don’t directly blame her for the heavy-faulted and crony capitalistic law, she along with Obama will forever will forever bear the scar of this ignominious Scarlet Letter.

Here are the Facts:

1. Insurance Costs Continue to Rise: One of the central claims made by the “central planners” was that insurance premiums would go down for buyers. However, the law actually mandates plans to cover more and more (“children” must be covered to age 27, “free” “women’s health” services), adds new taxes and fees, raising the minimum requirements and force high-risk patients into pooled-plans. So where does this money come from? That’s right, the consumer. Most with private plans have been hit with over a 100% increase!

2. Too Many Loopholes to be Effective: One of the problems with a bill written by lobbyists and bureaucrats, passed by people who never read it, and numbers in the 2,000s of pages is that it is too complicated and has too many loopholes. Take for example, employers have cut back hours or reduced staff to avoid hitting certain requirements—raising the unemployment numbers.

3. Leaves 31 Million Uninsured by 2023! How does this help our country? With 40 million already uninsured and many by choice, did we really have to disassemble almost 20% of the economy for these underrated, dismal numbers?

4. Program Costs Continue to Blow Past Initial Estimates: The CBO already conservatively estimates the 1 Trillion dollar allocated budget is almost another trillion dollars over budget.

5. The Program is Run by Government: This point speaks for itself. Plus, to make the matter worse, the IRS is implementing it. That’s like the Gestapo running the healthcare system of Nazi Germany.

6. The Web Site is a Failure: Don’t forget, the web site was and still is a failure. Plus, it cost over 3 billion dollars to create. That’s both grossly inefficient and absurd at the same time.

7. True “Benefits” Unclear: If you haven’t seen all the benefits promised since the passage of Obamacare, you are not alone.

8. Negative Employee Repercussions: In order to escape the heavy hand of government, businesses have been forced to follow the law as passed and find ways to avoid being negatively impacted. As a result of the law, businesses have been forced to drop full-time employees to part-time status, stop hiring altogether, and scrap plans for expansion.

9. You Don’t Get to Keep Your Doctor: Remember this flagrant lie by the president? Also remember how he promised premiums would go down by 2500 dollars? Lie and double lie!

10. 7.5 Million Sign Up: Obama is celebrating about the 7.5 million enrollees. However, when you look at these numbers most of them are from people who lost their insurance due to the law. And worse yet, most have not actually paid for the coverage. Lastly what about the other 32.5 million people?

Unfortunately, this list of failure will grow as our country’s economy shrinks. [edit]

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Why I Like the Tea Party

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The irony is that when I tell people that I support the Tea Party, they think I’m some right wing nut who has a shot gun in my trunk and go around preaching door to door with my bible. Neither is true. However, that is the picture of a Tea Party Patriot painted by the media. And it is the picture that most Americans, even Republicans, have of them.
What is more interesting is that when I begin to speak to my friends or colleagues about things I believe in, they all nod their head yes. To make a long story shirt, I begin to speak of how the national budget should be balanced, that our government has grown too big, that deficit spending must end, that special interest groups are corrupting politics or that reducing both personal and business taxes are essential. No one ever disagrees with my points. In fact, even the most ardent Democrats all seem to agree with every one of my points.
I would like to say that I’m persuasive when I speak. However, I would be fibbing. The truth is, the facts speak for themselves. All I do feebly sputter them out, hoping someone will listen.
Lastly, in the conversation, I’ll pull out my cell phone and show everyone what the Tea Party beliefs are on their web site:
1. Illegal aliens are here illegally. 2. Pro-domestic employment is indispensable. 3. A strong military is essential. 4. Special interests must be eliminated. 5. Gun ownership is sacred. 6. Government must be downsized. 7. The national budget must be balanced. 8. Deficit spending must end. 9. Bailout and stimulus plans are illegal. 10. Reducing personal income taxes is a must. 11. Reducing business income taxes is mandatory. 12. Political offices must be available to average citizens. 13. Intrusive government must be stopped. 14. English as our core language is required. 15. Traditional family values are encouraged.
These are all common sense answers to pressing issues that our country currently faces. The ideas behind them are not radical but those that oppose them are.
 
Then, those that still want to argue will point out that they don’t like Senator Cruz. When questioned why, they will say that he shut down government. When I tell them the facts about what the government shut down really meant and how minimally intrusive his filibuster was, most are in disbelief. None have attempted to argue any further. End of debate.
The truly unfortunate thing here is that the erroneous perception of the Tea Party propagated by the media remains. As a Tea Party supporter, all I want to see is that the next generation is safer and better off than I am. The Tea Party seems to be the only sanity left in Washington that can accomplish this wish. Spread the word.
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There is one problem with central governmental planning…IT DOESN’T WORK. For all those that extoll its efficiency, the merits of uniformitarian, and that only a central body of elite politicians know what is best for the rest of the country, you need look no further than the Olympics in Sochi to understand that you are incorrect. Remember, Sochi is supposed to be an example of the best Russia has to offer to the world. If this is their best, I’m hesitant to see their worst:

 

Though the pictures are finite, the message they show is endless. Central governmental planning is a failure. Only through free enterprise do people work their hardest and compete with one another to produce the best product or service. You think the above pictured hotel would have ever survived in a capitalistic society? Of course not. It would have went out of business shortly after its opening.

 

The more our government stifles free business, makes it more difficult to run a business and takes away our incentives to grow a business, the quicker our country will begin to look more and more like Russia. Don’t fool yourselves. The more rules and regulations the government makes, the more civil liberties it takes, and the more involved it becomes in your lives, the quicker our country heads further towards economic collapse.

 

I’m no anarchist, but I do warn, just like our forefathers, a limited government is the best government. We’ve forgotten what they taught us. Unfortunately, if we continue to go down the path we are headed, it may be too late to restore the country to how it was intended to be.

http://stephenmartino.blogspot.com/

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The Affordable Care Act Cuts 2 Million Jobs

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And the news for Obamacare keeps on getting worse. With the latest CBS poll showing a satisfaction rate of 7% for this program, businesses reducing working hours and/or employees to avoid taxes imposed by the program and sky-high Obamacare deductibles, the Affordable Care Act has become an anchor, sinking the American economy into an eventual watery grave.

To add insult to injury, the Congressional Budget Office (a nonpartisan group) came out today with the strong warning that Obamacare will reduce the American workforce by the equivalent of 2 million full-time workers in 2017. They concluded that the health law would lead some workers, particularly those with lower incomes, to limit their hours to avoid losing federal subsidies that Obamacare provides to help pay for health insurance and other healthcare costs.

For example, some Americans nearing retirement could decide to keep their work hours shorter to maintain Obamacare subsidies until they qualified for Medicare. Such a policy would thus "reduce incentives to work" and pose an "implicit tax on working" for those returning to a job with health insurance.

This policy goes against human nature. Remember, incentive is what drives us to invent, work harder and strive for greater things. Incentive is what makes businesses grow, creates jobs and expands the economy. Just like all of the current administration’s policies, Obamacare stifles the human spirit and hinders it from growing.

If you disagree with me and you are a working, taxpaying man or woman, ask yourself this question: has any Obama policy helped you? Has any Obama policy helped your business? Has any Obama policy cut your taxes? Has any Obama policy made your job easier? If the answer is no, it explains why our economy continues to stagnate and the divide between rich and poor continue to grow. Now ask yourself this: can American handle another 3 more years of this?

http://stephenmartino.blogspot.com/

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Negative Effects of Obamacare

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In order to pay for Obamacare, Medicare cuts have begun to decimate the hospitals' bottom lines throughout the country. It is like a Domino effect. First we see businesses laying off people or reducing working hours. Next, we see the failed rollout of this atrocious health program. Now we learn that in order to pay for Obamacare, the Us government is removing funding from Medicare. And so the next Domino falls:

Hospitals, a reliable source of employment growth in the recession and its aftermath, are starting to cut thousands of jobs amid falling insurance payments and in-patient visits. So far this year, the health care sector has announced 41,085 layoffs, the third-most behind financial and industrial companies.

Total private hospital employment is down by 8,000 since April and more staff reductions are expected into next year. This month, Indiana University Health laid off about 900 workers as part of a move to trim its budget by $1 billion over five years. Vanderbilt plans to eliminate 1,000 jobs by year-end to help shave operating costs 8% a year. And the Cleveland Clinic is offering buyouts to 3,000 employees as it shaves its annual operating costs by $330 million.

Let me ask one intelligent question. Has Obamacare done anything positive for our country or economy? Has the tax issued to those not wanting to purchase it yielded any negligible financial benefit to the country? The answer is a definite no. Plus, the aftershocks of the rollout will prove more detrimental by the day. Now you realize why Senator Cruz is fighting do hard to defund it. If people would just wake up and learn what Obama is doing, we could defund this financial disaster.

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