Health savings accounts (HSAs), which are under fire as tax shelters for the rich, would become an even sweeter deal for the well off if a new bill passes Congress.

The Center on Budget Policies and Priorities, a Washington think tank, says legislation introduced by Reps. Eric Cantor, R-Va., and Paul Ryan, R-Wis., would increase HSA contribution limits and allow one-time, tax-free transfers from Individual Retirement Accounts.

HSAs are attractive as tax shelters because both deposits and withdrawals are tax free as long as the money is spent on out-of-pocket health expenses. No other tax-advantaged savings account receives such treatment, the organization notes.

A recent Government Accountability Office study found that HSAs were used disproportionately by high-income households. The bill is scheduled to be considered in committee today.

Ron McBride
www.WeDemocrats.com
www.USLINX.com

A new report that shows health insurance premiums rising at twice the rate of inflation has renewed calls on Capitol Hill for legislation to create national association health plans.

Senate small business committee Chair Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, said the Kaiser Family Foundation report is yet another "disturbing reminder" of the health insurance crisis facing small businesses. She called for a bipartisan effort to create nationally based association health plans to help lower costs.

The report noted that health insurance premiums rose by 7.7 percent — twice the inflation rate — last year and by 78 percent since 2000. In contrast, wages have increased by only 20 percent. Only 61 percent of firms surveyed in the study offer health benefits compared with 69 percent in 2000.

Todd Stottlemyer, president and chief executive of the National Federation of Independent Business, said the situation is "dire" for small businesses.

Ron McBride
www.WeDemocrats.com
www.USLINX.com

Poll: Gov poised for easy victory
September 18, 2006
BY SCOTT FORNEK Political Reporter
Gov. Blagojevich is poised for an easy victory over Republican challenger Judy Baar Topinka in the November election -- possibly one of landslide proportions.
And while voters are split on whether to believe that the Democratic incumbent really wants to end corruption in state politics, they overwhelmingly reject the GOP state treasurer's claim that she was not close to former Gov. George Ryan.
Those are the key findings in a Chicago Sun-Times/NBC5 Poll on the gubernatorial race, conducted as the candidates head into the crucial final seven weeks of the campaign.
ABOUT THIS CHICAGO SUN-TIMES/NBC5 POLL
The Chicago Sun-Times/NBC5 Poll was conducted by KRC/Communications Research of Newton, Mass., on Sept. 10-12. Operators used random digit dialing to gather a random sample of 400 voters likely to cast ballots in the Nov. 7 election. The survey has an error margin of plus or minus 4.8 percentage points. The error margin is larger when the numbers are broken down by race, age or other demographic factors.
The most surprising result is the wide gap in the governor's race.
Blagojevich was leading Topinka 56 percent to 26 percent. Green Party candidate Rich Whitney had 3 percent, and 15 percent were undecided.
That 30-point margin between Blagojevich and Topinka is wider than the margin in any other media, campaign or independent poll taken on the race. Over the last few months, most other surveys have put Blagojevich's lead somewhere between 7 and 16 percentage points.
The Chicago Sun-Times/ NBC5 Poll, conducted by KRC/ Communications Research, is based on a random statewide sample of 400 likely voters.
It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.8 percentage points. That margin is larger when the numbers are broken down by race, age or other demographic factors.
Despite the disparity between it and other polls, the pollster stands by the numbers.
"I think that over time, Illinois has become polarized by party, and there is a tremendous number of people who are self-identifying as Democrats, and they are with Blagojevich, truly and simply," said Gerry Chervinsky, president of KRC/Communications Research, which is based in Newton, Mass. "Based on this, I really do expect him to win big, 60-40, high 50s to low 40s."
The survey sample was 52 percent Democratic, 25 percent Republican and 21 percent independent. But even when the results were statistically weighted to narrow the gap between Democrats and Republicans, Blagojevich was ahead by more than 20 points.

Ron McBride
www.WeDemocrats.com
www.uslinx.com

By Benjamin Franklin, Statesman

"Be civil to all; sociable to many; familiar with few; friend to one; enemy to none."

After the fall of Saddam Hussein's government in April 2003, it seemed everyone wanted to go to Iraq for high paying jobs, but first they had to get past Jim O'Beirne's office in the Pentagon.

And to do that you didn’t need to be an expert, nor did you need any special skills, all you needed was Loyalty to Geo. W. Bush and his administration.

To prove that you were loyal you had to answer questions like did you vote for Bush in 2000, and do you support the president?

A 24-year-old who had never worked in finance; but had applied for a White House job; was sent to reopen Baghdad's stock exchange. The daughter of a prominent neo-conservative commentator and a recent graduate from an evangelical university for home-schooled children were tapped to manage Iraq's $13 billion budget, even though they didn't have a background in accounting.

In my opinion this decision to send the loyal and the willing instead of the best and the brightest, is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. The CPA had the power to enact laws, print currency, collect taxes, deploy police and spend Iraq's oil revenue. It had more than 1,500 employees in Baghdad at its height, working under America's viceroy in Iraq, L. Paul Bremer, but never released a public roster of its entire staff.

Bremer, was blamed for the failure, when in reality it was Bush and his cohorts who in their ignorance hampered not only his efforts but those of the Iraqi people to re-establish a government.

To get the people he wanted, O'Beirne requested résumés from the offices of Republican congressmen, conservative think tanks and GOP activists. He discarded applications from those his staff deemed ideologically suspect, even if the applicants possessed Arabic language skills or postwar rebuilding experience.

The ideal applicant was one who had worked in a republican campaign. O’Beirne and his staff used and old forgotten law to hire personnel as temporary political appointees, which exempted them from a law that says they can’t ask prospective employees questions about personal political beliefs.

To be sure there were a few Democrats that got jobs in Iraq, almost all being active-duty soldiers or State Department Foreign Service officers, who couldn’t be questioned about their political leanings. Senior civil servants who were experienced, were passed over and rejected in favor of Republican National Committee donors.

"I'm not here for the Iraqis," one staffer noted to a reporter over lunch. "I'm here for George Bush."

The hiring of Bremer's most senior advisers was settled upon at the highest levels of the White House and the Pentagon. Some, were personally recruited by Bush. Others got their jobs because an influential Republican made a call on behalf of a friend or trusted colleague.

The above is just a small sampling of the shady dealings of the Republicans in Iraq. Is it any wonder why they continue to pursue this war, it means more money and jobs for republicans.

Why do we the taxpayers have to foot the bill for the Republican Party? We don’t all we have to do is vote Democratic on Nov. 7th.

Ron McBride
CEO www.USLINX.com
Exec Dir www.WeDemocrats.com