Doug Berger – Page 9 – Doug's Views

August 13, 2016April 18, 2020

In Politics, You Can’t Always Let Things Slide

I simply had enough. Most days I scan the Letters-to-the-Editor section of my local paper, shake my head, and move on. But last week, I reached my breaking point. I don’t care how mentally unstable you sound, if you can’t even get basic history right, I have to call you on it. That’s why I responded to a recent letter I read. In politics, you can’t always let things slide.

I am NOT a Hillary Clinton fan, I supported Bernie during the primaries, so what set me off about Wayne B.’s letter to the editor on August 4th? He mangles history. THAT pissed me off.

July 15, 2016April 18, 2020

Ad Supporting Senator Rob Portman Uses Debunked Myths About Obamacare

screencap of Misinformed small business owner

Everyone expects some political lying in TV ads during election season especially with all the dark money pouring into campaigns. A recent ad that supports Senator Rob Portman is the worse kind of political lying because it is aimed at the low information voter who doesn’t keep up on the issues. A small business owner is complaining about insurance costs and then Portman chimes in that “Obamacare” has cost jobs and is vague as usual that it needs to be replaced. The fact is the business owner’s insurance costs went up because they couldn’t offer the cheap, crappy coverage no longer permitted under the Affordable Care Act and there is no evidence that the ACA has cost any jobs.

Here is a brief transcript of the ad:

July 13, 2016April 18, 2020

Republican David Yost Grandstands And Uses Food Stamps To Raise Campaign Money

Ohio Auditor of State David Yost giving testimony to US House Committee on Agriculture concerning Food Stamps

The Ohio Auditor of State David Yost participated in a hearing of the US House Agriculture Committee on July 6th. As I wrote in a previous post, Yost presented his ‘evidence’ of ‘fraud’ from an audit his office conducted on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (aka Food Stamps) in Ohio. It was obvious Yost missed the real issue with the ‘fraud’ he found and he then used his appearance in DC to raise money for a future higher office campaign.

For his testimony at the House Committee on Agriculture hearing, which was titled: “Past, Present, and Future of SNAP: Understanding Error Rates and Fraud“, David Yost wrote:

July 6, 2016April 18, 2020

Stop Scapegoating The Poor Please!

imagine of different amounts of food stamp coupons

Once again a politician, setting themselves up for higher office, goes to the ‘kick a poor person’ playbook to build some conservative cred. Ohio Auditor Dave Yost, who likes to kick things conservatives like to kick – public education, for example, – is now setting his sights on the low hanging fruit of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – better known as food stamps. Yost has a funny idea of fraud that fails to match reality.

June 28, 2016April 18, 2020

Justice Samuel Alito Believes Only Religious People Are Moral

A Smug Justice Samuel Alito

Justice Samuel Alito spent 15 pages to dissent against a US Supreme Court decision NOT to hear a case over birth control and pharmacies. In his waste of ‘ink’, he claims that only religious people are ‘moral’ and ‘ethical’.

The US Supreme Court decided NOT to hear a case from Washington state where a pharmacist wanted a religious exemption to a state law that required all pharmacists to dispense all lawfully prescribed medications or if they have moral or ethical objections they have to refer the patient to another pharmacist in the same store. The medications that prompted the lawsuit was birth control. The decision not to hear the case let stand a lower court ruling against the people who wanted the religious exemption.