Obamacare, the origins of futility: Reported by Jack Ferm

Obamacare is a plan for health care reform that will destroy America as a nation of full time employment. We already see the handwriting on the wall.

More Americans will be reduced to Part Time employment.

American business ingenuity has found away around Obamacare, In advance of the Government mandate that all “Full” time employees are to be provided insurance by their employers, employers are downgrading their employees to part time, meaning an employee who worked 40 hours previously will now work approximately 30 hours per week. Can they survive on twenty-five (25%) percent less take home pay?

Will the economy survive?

This Reporter did a random survey and found the following; companies that employ 30 or more workers may only have two (2) full time employees, the remainder are part time…

Companies are more reluctant to hire individuals that come from lower income backgrounds because of the Insurance exchange requirements.

American Businesses that will hire are generally right around Minimum wage!

The fault line with Obamacare

Obamacare is like a fault-zone primed and ready to devastate America.

Obamacare’s inherent weakness is the legislature’s lack of insight. It is one thing to pass a law, but it is foolhardiness not to carefully consider the ramifications of its enactment. That is what our congress failed to do…

Obamacare is a national failure even before it is fully enacted. First it eviscerates Medicare and Medicaid, both successful programs that were enacted in 1965… Obamacare: (i) Reduces funding for Medicare Advantage policies: $132 billion; (ii) Reduces Medicare home health care payments: $40 billion; and (iii) Reduces certain Medicare hospital payments: $22 billion;

It further provides a 10% sales tax on indoor tanning. But how is this even lawful? The interstate commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution has long been recognized as a complete bar to the taxation of retail sales in the fifty states by the federal government.  The interstate commerce clause allows for taxation by the federal government of the first sale at the wholesale level after interstate transport occurs, but effectively forbids the taxation of general retail sales by the federal government. A Tanning salon is not involved in interstate activity and the Federal Taxing power can not reach it…but why are the various attorneys general of the states not addressing this invasion of their own taxing power?

In this last item the Federal Government lays a direct tax on an intrastate business; without lawful or constitutional authority. The power to tax comes from the Interstate commerce clause of the Constitution, an intrastate business does not fall under this umbrella unless as the US Supreme Court has held such intrastate business impacts commerce…but tanning salons don’t!

The second Federal Authority to tax attaches to our incomes it comes from the sixteenth Amendment…a sales tax on an American Business does not fall under this taxing authority either.

Obamacare increases the tax burden on Americans who work Full time

The employee ultimately pays a tax on any benefit the employer provides, for example; Employers must disclose the value of the benefits they provided beginning in 2012 for each employee's health insurance coverage on the employee's annual Form W-2 that means a higher tax burden for employees who are considered full time and receive this benefit, a portion of the benefit will be paid to the Federal Government in the form of a higher tax obligation.

Hospitals will lose income

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will begin the “Readmissions Reduction Program”, which requires CMS to reduce payments to IPPS hospitals with excess readmissions. So it is now more advisable to remain in a hospital rather then to be readmitted later… hospitals will forfeit more than $280 million in Medicare funds, over readmissions. What may occur is the Hospital may consider rejecting a separate occurrence for such events as kidney stones. Yes this is anticipated to save the government money, but at what cost?

Medicare Part “D” (Drug Coverage) will be cancelled

By 2020 part “D” of Medicare will be phased out and discontinued.

Obamacare will leave 30 million Americans without coverage.

Obamacare is only estimated to add about 17 million American to the insurance rolls but at what cost? The Individual Mandate remains a tortured misapplication of Constitutional law and has raised serious questions regarding our own Supreme Court as the last arbitrator

The 5-4 Supreme Court decision was rather sorrowful. It is unprecedented for the Federal government to exercise authority to fine someone outside of regulated fields for their failure to act in a prescribed fashion. And, in fact, the Federal government has no such authority. In order to find the individual mandate Constitutional, the Supreme Court engaged in the very twisted logic of interpreting those fines as being taxes, and the ability to levy them as an extension of the government's taxing authority. A fine and a Tax are not interchangeable authority. A fine is a penalty; a tax is a revenue raising measure.

Obamacare is a failure in every regard but one…it provides a benefit to the insurance carrier in the way of added consumer participation and premiums.

We Kill Innocent people in the name of justice: Reported by Jack Ferm

On July 4, 2001, associate Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, in a speech before the Minnesota Women's Lawyers Group, stated:

"If statistics are any indication, the system may well be allowing some innocent defendants to be executed."

          Justice O'Connor was more correct than she knew!

The truth- twenty-two (22) innocent people have been executed in America between 1950 and 2000 our system of Justice not only failed them, but it failed us as well. Our criminal Justice system is a system that for the most part, simply does not work.

The miscarriages of justice have occurred in several forms, from witness fabrication for a reward, to government officials who know the truth but fail to come forward.  Prior to 1963, it is hard to determine how many inmates were truly innocent, as the law did not require that the accused had a right to counsel.  Then, in a landmark decision in 1963, the United States Supreme Court mandated that an accused must have the right to counsel and that if he could not afford one, the state would provide counsel free of charge.  Even after this landmark decision, innocent men and women have been convicted and sentenced for crimes they had not committed, all in the interest of justice.  The sad part is, the real criminal got away with a crime and remained free to commit more.

          As of December 2000, there were two million prison inmates throughout the United States.  3,711 of these inmates were on death row.

The Innocence Project, which is doing a superb job in attempting to even the playing field, consists of a loosely knit association of criminal defense lawyers across America.  They search for the truth when justice has failed.  Through DNA testing and reinvestigation of death row cases and major felonies, they have been able to exonerate many inmates, but at what cost?  In some cases, these people have been imprisoned from 10 to 34 years before their innocence was proven, and some never get out.

          Why does this happen?

            People are wrongfully convicted for many reasons, stemming from:

            1.  Simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time;

            2. “ Ineffective” assistance of counsel;

            3.  Perjured testimony of witnesses, usually for a reward;

            4.  Evidence tampering and concealment by police and FBI;

5. Prosecutorial misconduct, withholding evidence of innocence, or manufacturing evidence of guilt, usually to further a personal career;

6.  Judicial incompetence -- judges who do not understand the application of the law; and

7.     Jury misconduct -- jurors who want to please, and forsake their

            duty and integrity.

          A perfect example of such a case is the story of Peter Limone.  His story should shock you:

In 1965, the Boston mob hit and killed Edward Deagan. Joseph Barboza; an FBI informant; testified at the trial of Peter Limone and four other defendants, and identified them as the hit men. Based on his testimony, Mr. Limone and the other four were convicted.  At the time of his conviction, Mr. Limone was 33 years old previously his only trouble with the law had come from running a dice game.

At the time the FBI were using informants to gather information about mob activity.  Information that the FBI had in their files pointed to suspects which included Joseph Barboza himself as the actual killer.  Since Barboza was an FBI informant, the agency concealed the list of suspects from the state of Boston.  Limone and three of the other four co-defendants were not on the list the FBI received from its sources.

Mr. Limone spent 33 years, two months and five days in prison before he was exonerated.  Four years of that time were on death row.  Olympia Limone, his wife, made a living for herself and their four children by sewing.  Believing in his innocence, she would visit him faithfully twice a week.

While in prison, Limone survived a heart attack his four children grew up, were married, and had children of their own. The prime of his life passed while he was in prison for a crime he did not commit.

Barboza, who was a mob hit man, and an FBI informant, framed Limone.  Mr. Barboza cooperated with prosecutors and framed Limone while the FBI sat back did nothing and watched. They stood by, knowing of his innocence and the innocence of the other defendants, but did nothing.  They would have allowed Limone and the others to be executed to protect their source.

Limone was exonerated as a side event of a major federal trial in Boston involving Stephen Flemmi and James Bulger, two Boston mob leaders.  In proceedings that took place in Boston over a period of years, the presiding federal judge, Mark L. Wolf, turned up instances of FBI misconduct so disturbing that he ordered an investigation by the Department of Justice's Task Force.  He further ordered the establishment of guidelines on how agents should interact with informants, and what they must tell prosecutors about those relationships.

Testimony uncovered corruption within the FBI and their relationship with top-echelon informants that allowed them to literally get away with murder.  Barboza was just one of many.

Limone and four other people were convicted of Deagan's murder.  Two of them died while in prison in or about 1995.  Barboza later admitted he had fabricated the story convicting the five defendants.

The attorney for Mr. Limone, John Cavicchi, discovered through documents that he was able to obtain with the cooperation of Judge Wolf, that Barboza was given inducements by the authorities to testify as he did, and yet the trial judge gave the jury the impression that Barboza was a non-interested party.

The Justice Department Task Force, during their investigation of the FBI, released documents that it had uncovered, which showed that FBI informants had told the FBI beforehand that Mr. Deagan would be killed and who would kill him.  The list did not include Mr. Limone or three of the other co-defendants.

The FBI knew that four of the defendants were innocent, yet they did nothing. Why? To protect their own informants and, they did nothing to prevent the killing of Deagan.

Joseph Salvati, Lewis Greco, Henry Tameleo and Peter Limone were all cleared by the FBI files.  Greco and Tameleo died while in prison.

Mr. Limone was 66 when he was finally exonerated and released from prison he died a short while afterward.  After his release in January 2001 he filed a civil rights lawsuit seeking some 60 million dollars in damages but died before he could see the recovery. 

Where are the investigative reporters, why haven’t the media taken a more active role in investigating these events? I suppose it’s not financially prudent in this corporate air of blending news with entertainment, but certainly this has the flair to generate shock journalism and sensationalism that is how the media reports the news today. 

Lawyers and depression, substance abuse and suicide: Reported by Jack Ferm

Studies show high rates of attorney depression, substance abuse, and suicide. .. Related to the stress of litigation practice, many attorneys are on the verge of a stress overload. This overload becomes obvious from a perusal of their pleadings and how they respond to an opponent in litigation practice.

At a seminar in Orlando entitled “Practicing with Professionalism” Michael Cohen, Executive Director of Florida Lawyers Assistance, presented the first session, entitled “Chemical Dependency/Stress.” He opened with his own story of substance abuse and recovery — instant credibility, a spellbinding tale of breakdown and recovery …the entire room stopped to listen to Mr. Cohen’s story and its lesson.
Mr. Cohen presented some startling statistics about attorney substance abuse, depression, and suicide rates; here are the figures he presented:

• 15-18% of attorneys will have substance abuse problem vs. 10% of general population.
• Over 1/3 of attorneys say they are dissatisfied and would choose another profession if they could.
• Attorneys have the highest rates of depression and suicide of any profession.

He also cited a study of Canadian lawyers that showed suicide to be the third leading cause of death for attorneys, behind only cancer and heart disease, studies show that 51% of lawyers experience stress at higher levels than the “normal” population.
These studies reveal a crisis point for practicing lawyers. They indicate that the way many approach practice just isn’t working, in fact it creates stress levels that can kill or at a minimum create an atmosphere where the attorney will give up his practice and seek a different profession
Perhaps the law attracts people who are intrinsically more susceptible to substance abuse or emotional issues. But lifestyle and the pressures of today’s practice have a lot to do with these findings.
This author is not suggesting that most lawyers are headed for depression, drug or alcohol addiction, or suicide. But I do submit that many lawyers are stressed out. And, more importantly, I suggest that there are enough pressures on lawyers, especially lawyers who are fairly new to the practice, that it’s critical to be aware of the danger signals for these disorders.
Recognizing the Danger signals of stress
Stress is a normal physical response to events that make you feel threatened or upset your balance in some way. When you sense danger – whether it’s real or imagined – the body's defenses kick into high gear in a rapid, automatic process known as the “fight-or-flight” reaction, or the stress response.
But beyond a certain point, stress stops being helpful and starts causing major damage to your health, your mood, your productivity, your relationships, and your quality of life.
It’s important to learn how to recognize when your stress levels are out of control. The most dangerous thing about stress is how easily it can creep up on you. You get used to it. It starts to feels familiar even normal. You don’t notice how much it’s affecting you, even as it takes a heavy toll.
The signs and symptoms of stress overload can be almost anything. Stress affects the mind, body, and behavior in many ways, and every lawyer experiences stress differently.

Stress doesn’t always look stressful

Psychologist Connie Lillas uses a driving analogy to describe the three most common ways people respond when they’re overwhelmed by stress:

• Foot on the gas – An angry or agitated stress response. You’re heated, keyed up, overly emotional, and unable to sit still.
• Foot on the brake – A withdrawn or depressed stress response. You shut down, space out, and show very little energy or emotion.
• Foot on both – A tense and frozen stress response. You “freeze” under pressure and can’t do anything. You look paralyzed, but under the surface you’re extremely agitated.

Signs and symptoms of stress overload

The following table lists some of the common warning signs and symptoms of stress. The more signs and symptoms you notice in yourself, the closer you may be to stress overload.

Stress Warning Signs and Symptoms
Cognitive Symptoms	Emotional Symptoms
Memory problems Inability to concentrate Poor judgment Seeing only the negative Anxious or racing thoughts Constant worrying	Moodiness Irritability or short temper Agitation, inability to relax Feeling overwhelmed Sense of loneliness and isolation Depression or general unhappiness
Physical Symptoms	Behavioral Symptoms
Aches and pains Diarrhea or constipation Nausea, dizziness Chest pain, rapid heartbeat Loss of sex drive Frequent colds	Eating more or less Sleeping too much or too little Isolating yourself from others Procrastinating or neglecting responsibilities Using alcohol, cigarettes, or drugs to relax Nervous habits (e.g. nail biting, pacing

PLEASE NOTE: Depression, substance abuse, and any suicidal thoughts are best addressed with the help of counselors who are trained and certified.
If you or any lawyer you know needs help, overcoming these challenges. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline can be reached at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), 24 Hours a day. Please call them if you are in crisis.