“The real problem is not that we are different, nor that we disagree and have conflict. It's that most of us automatically view conflict as something negative rather than as a tool God can use to help us better understand ourselves and one another.

--Robert Ricciardelli”

Saturday, May 02, 2009

Smoke and Mirrors from Obama and the Swine Flu

So much for President Obama’s “tax credit for all” package. The way it was written, it is actually creating tax liabilities for the poor. And, more importantly, nothing is being done to let people know.

At-risk taxpayers include a broad swath of the public: married couples in which both spouses work; workers with more than one job; retirees who have federal income taxes withheld from their pension payments and Social Security recipients with jobs that provide taxable income.

The Internal Revenue Service acknowledges problems with the withholding tables but has done little to warn average taxpayers.
Retirees get the latest $250 SSN check deducted from their eligible “refund. College students may not get to claim it at all. Yet, this was hailed as a package that would provide for these very people.

Now, I am smart enough to realize people need to keep up with their own tax issues. But, the whole thing smells like a cheap public relations stunt. That is especially true since the government is saying nothing even though they knew in advance this would happen. So, how come no one is saying “Obama lied and ripped us off again.”

(…tell me again why people believe the Liberals really care about the poor…???...)

And, in the continuing stories showing the stupidity over the Swine Flu, Mexico is reporting a drop in reported cases THE DAY AFTER closing businesses and offices.
Mexico started a five-day shutdown of most offices and businesses on Friday to try to halt the spread of a deadly flu strain, and officials said they were encouraged by signs the number of new cases was dropping.
Does anyone really believe that a single day of closings brought an immediate drop to the number of cases? That’s as crazy closing schools in Texas in hopes of keeping disease from spreading. The kids will go to malls and daycare centers while their parents work. That is not the type of isolation required to stop the spread of a dangerous disease. The WHO (World Health Organization)…
said on Friday that no meeting of its emergency committee was scheduled, meaning there was no immediate likelihood of the current level 5 alert being raised to a full 'phase 6' pandemic alert.
In fact, only mild cases have occurred anywhere outside of Mexico, indicating the spread is relatively limited. According to this article, the number of new cases being reported by hospitals in Mexico in the last 10 days has dropped by some 75%. And, while 176 deaths so far is a lot, 13,00 flu deaths occur in the US each year. This is a very far cry from a lethal pandemic.

(…do I really want to ask how dumb the media and government think we are…)

The problem this type of media hype could create is horrifying. consider all the false warnings the media gives...on an ever increasing basis. As time goes on, people will probably pay less and less attention. And, then, one day, the media will get one right but no one will pay attention. People will probably blame God for the problems. But, in fact, they were created by men and God simply let us have what we created and did not bother to fix. I pity the millions who will probably die in those days. I also pity the punishment that awaits those who brought it on.