Help, please: Important request from my daughter, an ER doctor:

[tblue37]

Hi, guys,

Rarely do I send mass emails, but I am hoping that you all will be as interested and disturbed by this as I was. Currently, there is a bill on the floor to eliminate 95% of federal poison center funding. This would lead to the closing of nearly all poison control centers in the country. As an emergency physician, I cannot tell you how huge of an impact this will be on our emergency departments. If any of you have visited an ED recently, you are all aware that wait times and unnecessary visits are some of the biggest issues we face. The poison control centers in the US prevent most callers from ever going to he hospital, and the removal of this resource would undoubtedly lead to further overcrowding and unnecessary patient visits. Furthermore, the poison centers provide physician valuable information during the treatment of acute poisoning cases by various out-of-the-ordinary toxicologic cases, as well as providing important follow-up with patients. This bill would make such assistance unavailable.

Additionally, this bill would largely eliminate toxicology research, fellowships, and perhaps an entire branch of emergency medicine. If you think this would not affect you, ask around - if you know anyone who has children, ask how safe child safety pill bottles really are, or how easily a kid can get into that cupboard below the sink. Ask if your neighbors happen to keep snakes (copperheads, pit vipers, and other poisonous snakes are, curiously, often kept as household pets), or if you could ever be exposed to a biologic agent at home, work, the airport, etc... This is not an abstract idea, this is something that will impact your life. Please, take three minutes to contact your senators and representatives ASAP - this is easy, there is even a link with a pre-written letter, all you have to do is click the "send" button.

http://www.aapcc.org/dnn/AAPCC/SaveOurPoisonCenters.aspx

Thanks for taking the time to read this, please pass it on to anyone else that might be willing to help,

[PDJane]

1. Kick and rec, too.

[Hannah Bell]

2. kr

[chill_wind]

3. K & R. n/t

[silverweb]

4. Done and forwarded.

Thanks for bringing this to our attention.

[tblue37]

6. Thanks so much. I figured that if she wants to get the word out, DU

members can do more than most to make a difference.

[silverweb]

13. I think you figured right.

I know at least 2 people on my email list have much more extensive lists of their own, and I'm sure that's true for a lot of other DUers. Then there are those with Facebook pages, etc.

The word will get out!

[tblue37]

19. Thanks! nt

[tblue37]

79. .

[somone]

5. Done

[1776Forever]

7. K&R Done!

[Zoeisright]

8. Why do repukes hate this country?

I mean really, they just want everyone else to die, don't they?

[sam sarrha]

95. see post #94 ...they hate the Constitution because it is a Socialist contract, it goes against

gods great plan. which was an Halucination of Abraham Vereide in 1934, who was a Nazi.. so you get a Nazi Dogma.

this is all about the "C street" cult, the Family, the Christian mafia.

more here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=614987&mesg_id=621321

[tblue37]

101. I think it's mainly the desire to do the bidding of their corporate overlords. nt

[sam sarrha]

102. i have read several books on this.. it is a Religious cult.. with the Richest and Corp's at the top

[snagglepuss]

9. K & R nt

[lbrtbell]

10. K and FUCKING R!!!

Pardon my language, but this is just heinous. What the hell is the matter with Republicans, always wanting to cut funding for things that save lives??

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. Done, these people ARE INSANE.

NOAA and Poison Control Centers are not fat, they are BONE, as in BONE MARROW

[kickysnana]

24. +1

[dmr]

12. Done! What's wrong with these people? Poison Control is VITAL!

:grr:

I'll add it to my Facebook page.

[tblue37]

18. Thanks! nt

[midnight]

14. K&R

[Incitatus]

15. WTF? This bill would be have to signed by Obama to pass, right?

[highplainsdem]

17. Yes, but as part of the budget, not stand-alone legislation.

[highplainsdem]

16. The GOP is probably doing this to limit data that can be used in lawsuits.

Data from poison control centers can help establish how harmful products are. This is the sort of data that leads to class action lawsuits being won against corporations, and dangerous products being pulled off the market even if they've been profitable.

They're also targeting the Consumer Product Safety Commission's public complaint database.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/2011-03-02-safetycuts0303_N.htm

[lbrtbell]

20. We've GOT to vote these teabagging bastards out in 2012

They are pure evil incarnate. :mad:

[Patiod]

30. Follow the profits!!!

Absolutely positively correct.

"But accuracy is the reason Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Kan., says he proposed taking away the database's funding. He worries companies and CPSC staff won't have enough time to research complaints in the 10 days they have before they are posted. That will "do a lot of harm" to consumers who read false information about one product and opt instead to buy another product that could be less safe."

Everyone here that thinks any Republican elected official gives a flying fuck about harm to consumers, raise your hand.

Anyone?

Anyone?

Bueller?

[Divernan]

90. Bueller? ? ? LOL!

[MedicalAdmin]

53. I'll pass this on and I agree with the sentiment...

But nothing is going to be done. I have actually commented on this within my community and the response is a big fat yawn, or a big fat who the fuck cares about those freeloaders who are using that anyway you damn dirty hippy.

As much as I would like to believe otherwise, I think that the US is done. It's time to stick a fork in it and move on. We can't fix this. It's too late. This country is owned lock stock and barrel. Maybe in another generation, but at this time the stupid is too deep and too ingrained. DU aside, there aint enough grey cells floating around in the collective consciousness to get this done.

In the same budget almost the entire budget for community clinics is being cut. Oh well - it's only poor, lazy and/or brown people. Who care?

Can you tell that I am feeling cynical this morning? Sigh. Don't give up the fight - rah, rah, etc....

[libmom74]

61. I'm feeling the same way today

I tried to talk to someone about what was going on with union busting around this country and had to hear about how greedy the unions have become. I tried to explain that it was really the wealthy pitting the middle class against each other and if not for the unions our state would be much worse off (WA is a union state) and explained the differences between right to work states and union stated in terms of infrastructure investment, education and wages but still got the "well I don't know anything about that but I know the unions always want too much and the workers are lazy" line. Arrgh! I give up! I'm reminded of Harriet Tubman's quote "“I freed a thousand slaves I could have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves.” So many people are blissfully ignorant and wish to remain that way.

[Snoutport]

21. sent an email and now....kick

[mrmpa]

22. Done, I was somewhere in the past couple days, can't remember

where, and Mr. Yuk was staring me in the face-must have been the drugstore. I've called the poison control center in the past, no need for ER, everything was ok.

[themadstork]

23. Poison control And er/icu saved my life three months ago

I tried to kill myself. Took 3x lethal dose of a med. They knew exactly what to do. Saved my life, my kidneys. Prevented brain damage.

I'm completely floored by this. I can't even click the link right now.

[nadinbrzezinski]

25. Good to know you are here

they are invaluable

[w8liftinglady]

34. I'm glad they saved you. We need you,desperately

PM Me any time you need an anonymous to talk to.

[roguevalley]

26. done

[necso]

27. A valuable, relatively low-cost resource,

utilized by medical professionals, people who suspect that they or their children have been poisoned (often incorrectly), and people who just have questions about toxicity (some plants commonly used for landscaping in SoCal are highly toxic).

It seems like the cons look at a list of government functions, and think "Hey, I'll never use that service, screw it."

Now, of course, that would be just plain stupid (in addition to being psychotically (randyanly) selfish), especially if the con in question also happens to be abysmally ignorant and terribly short-sighted.

And in this case, being stupid would almost certainly raise overall costs, while shifting the burden elsewhere (like onto those paying for health insurance when provider costs go up to pay for unnecessary ER/doctor visits).

On a related note, just because a person lives somewhere that doesn't experience earthquakes on a regular basis, this doesn't mean that he will never experience an earthquake:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1812_New_Madrid_earthquake

There are many fault zones that don't have a lot of activity -- but this doesn't mean that they'll never again have significant activity; the collection of scientific data on the subject is relatively recent, and geological events can have long periodicities. (Earthquakes can also point to looming volcanic activity.)

And, of course, one of the priorities of earthquake study is prediction, which could result in saving lives in many places where earthquakes are not common (although the best place to study earthquakes is where there are many of them).

[MedicalAdmin]

54. Shock Doctrine.

The deficit is just an excuse to cut stuff that they didn't like before and weren't able to get rid of.

Shock doctrine. We need to make sure that the hammer of god comes down on these assclowns.

[Evolve_Already]

28. Not surprising.

The cons plans are coming together quite nicely. When you have citizen serfs with little to no health care services...I think we all get it.

[ck4829]

29. Kick

[Maru Kitteh]

31. Time out to say: Well freakin' done on the daughter thing. Ya done good!

:-D

[tblue37]

40. Thanks. That is the sort of compliment that means the most to me!

I am very proud of my babies—both my son and my daughter (They are now 31 and 29, respectively, but still my babies.).

My daughter took third year off from med school when she won a Fulbright Fellowship to Ireland, where she took a master’s in public health and social policy Dublin. She then returned to finish med school. She is in her last year as an ER resident, and next June she begins another residency, this one in aerospace medicine in Houston. She is also a talented artist and musician. People are all the time hiring her to do paintings and drawings for them, and in fact, she is responsible for the murals on the walls at Georgetown Medical School.

My son, who works for the State Department, is also pretty amazing. He used to be jealous of his superstar baby sister, but now he just beams with pride about her accomplishments, probably because he has finally realized that he has plenty of accomplishments of his own to be proud of.

When he was an undergrad, he started off as a journalism major, because he’s an excellent writer and he figured he needed a marketable skill. But when his Reporting I profs told the class that they should love it when people died—especially a lot of people or important people—because it would give them something easy to write about, he was appalled at their callousness and decided he didn’t want to be part of such a cynical profession.

He wanted to do a study abroad semester in Italy, because my father’s family came from Sicily and also because my son has a passion for Dante’s Divine Comedy and wanted to learn Italian so he could read it in the original. But I pressed him to go to Spain instead, not just because Spanish is a more marketable language to learn, but also because I love Spain so much, and I knew he would too if he gave it a chance. Besides, he could always go to Italy during his travels, and I told him that if he spoke Spanish he could make himself understood in Italy, and he would also understand what they said in Italian while he was there.

When he arrived in Madrid, he couldn’t even read the signs in the Madrid airport, but after one semester, he was fluent in Spanish, because he deliberately immersed himself in the language. Native Spanish speakers from various countries always assume he is a native speaker, but they are always trying to place his accent and figure out what country he is from!

During his stay in Spain, he refused to speak a single word of English, even when spoken to in English, and even when speaking to the other American students. He hung out mostly with Spanish friends he made there, though he also did make friends with a group of Scandinavian students who were studying at the same language institute that term. However, he told them that he would only speak Spanish with them, because like him, they were there to learn Spanish, not to practice their English.

He fell in love with the language, the culture, and the people of Spain, so when he returned to the states, he switched to a double major of Spanish and International Studies. While he was there, he wrote a marvelous essay that I posted as a guest article on my Teacher, Teacher website, entitled “Learning to Eat My Vegetables.” In it he bemoaned the narrowness of his high school education, especially in history, because it pretty much ignored every major historical occurrence unless the US was at the center of the story. He learned about the Spanish civil war while studying in Spain, and he was flabbergasted that it had never even been mentioned in any of his world history, modern history, or European history classes. If you’d like to read the essay, it’s at
http://teacherblue.homestead.com/vegetables.html

Here are the first few paragraphs:

When I was young, my mother always encouraged me to eat my vegetables. "Even if you don't like it very much, " she would say, "that broccoli has important vitamins that will help you grow into a strong, healthy adult." As a child, I didn't care about growing into a "strong, healthy adult"--I only knew that broccoli and other vegetables didn't taste nearly as good as candy or chips, and therefore I didn't want to eat them. But my mother, infinitely patient, always made sure that I ate the greens and the vegetables that my body needed.

When I was in high school, broccoli wasn't the only thing I didn't like. I also turned up my nose at history, English, math, and science, preferring to concentrate on music, girls, and staying out late. My mother insisted that neglecting my education was as detrimental to my development as my distaste for vegetables, but again I refused to listen to her.

Luckily for me (I thought at the time), my high school allowed me to slide by with only a limited exposure to history and other subjects I considered dull. Like the majority of my peers, I thus graduated from high school with almost no knowledge of world history or geography (to name just two of the areas in which my ignorance now embarrasses me).

I hadn't realized the extent of this particular gap in my education until I came to Spain in January to study the Spanish language and culture. Once I had arrived and started classes, I began to hear about such things as the Moorish occupation of the Iberian peninsula, the Inquisition, Francisco Franco, and the Spanish civil war.

My Spanish professoras weren't surprised when I revealed my ignorance about their country's history; they had all taught American students before and were accustomed to our typical lack of world awareness. But I was appalled. I knew that my knowledge of history outside of the United States was limited, but I didn't understand how it had been possible to graduate from high school without even hearing about events as important as the Inquisition or the Spanish civil war. These topics, and most others, were far from interesting to me in high school, but I did manage, in spite of myself, to absorb at least part of the information that was presented to me. Shouldn't I at least have been exposed to information about such major events in European history, even if I was determined to try to ignore it?

<snip>

I teach college English, and I also ran a home daycare for 18 years (while still teaching my college classes), until my daughter (my younger child) finally went off to college, because I wanted to be home with my own kids during most of their waking hours, rather than sending them to a daycare.

During my 18 daycare years, I helped raise 34 (!) children in addition to my own two. I am now 60 years old. In my nearly 40 years of teaching I have taught hundreds, maybe even thousands, of students. I consider the children I have raised and those I have taught to be my “legacy.” Many people consider the work a mother or a daycare provider does to be insignificant, and apparently these days, in our country at least, the work of teachers is also drastically undervalued. But although I have other accomplishments that I am fairly proud of, I consider the children I have taught in my daycare and my college classes, and the two that I people I gave birth to and raised and taught, to be the most important contribution I have made to our country and our world. Mothers, teachers, and daycare providers are “multipliers.” Our influence is profound, because we send those kids out into the world, so that what we value enough to teach them has a much larger impact on the world than any other thing we do, no matter how important we think it is.

[RebelOne]

32. Done. n/t

[w8liftinglady]

33. can someone help me find out who voted FOR this bill? "Family values" I bet.

[lildreamer316]

35. Done n/t

[hwmnbn]

36. done.... K&R

[Agony]

37. Yeah cut medical funding instead of just cutting 1/3 of Reagan NED program.

National Endowment for Democracy 110 million dollars so that the Chamber of Commerce, Republican Party, Democratic Party, AFL/CIO can wreck other peoples countries.

This Ronald Raygun era program needs to go, NOW. I keep telling my representatives this, how about you? Cutting this one program will pay for continued funding of poison control and have 70 million dollars left over to reduce the deficit.

Not rocket science.



Sorry I forgot to say,,, Done

thanks for the info
(from a volunteer ambulance driver)

Cheers,
Agony

[Lyric]

38. Done and sent to Manchin and Rockefeller. K&R.

[femrap]

39. Rich greedy people can be

poisoned as well.

[MedicalAdmin]

55. Replace can with should and I will agree with you.

[bertman]

41. Rec. thanks for posting this. nt

[tblue37]

42. I told my daughter that DU is on the case, and she is thrilled!

Here is what she wrote to me today (emphasis added):

Thank goodness!

I am so glad so many people see this as as big of an issue as I did. I can't believe our government can be this stupid - I cant tell you how many times we've called poison control in my (very short) career. They help the doctors as often as they help anyone else - no one is able to keep all that information in our heads, so they have this huge database of information on antidotes, treatment modalities, recommended treatment levels, etc., and they are incredibly fast at getting their hands on it. Within less time than it takes to actually call them, they are able to give any amount of info we need. Plus, I can't follow every patient that comes in. I usually lose track of them as soon as they leave the ED, but poison control will call ME back and let me know how effective my treatment was, because they DO keep track of everyone they are called on.

Such a valuable resource, I cant imagine losing it. It's beyond ridiculous!

[w8liftinglady]

43. It will be the subject of my next editorial.I'll post when ready.

[tblue37]

44. Thank you!!! nt

[w8liftinglady]

45. Solidarity from Texas Medical Association- eyes are opening

http://www.texmed.net/Template.aspx?id=20719


TMA Letter: HB 1015
By TMA and the Texas College of Emergency Physicians
March 9, 2011


House Public Health Committee

On behalf of the Texas Medical Association and the Texas College of Emergency Physicians, thank you for allowing us to provide input on the proposed consolidation of the six Texas Poison Control Centers into one. We understand that in times of financial crisis, difficult spending choices must be made but consolidating these valuable poison control centers will not lead to cost savings and could have a disastrous effect on public health.

The Texas Poison Control Center Network (TPCN) was established by the Texas Legislature in 1993 to provide emergency treatment information to the citizens of Texas for poisoning or toxic exposures. When a person or health care professional calls TPCN, they have access to a network of nurses, pharmacists, paramedics, and physicians who have extensive education, training, and expertise in the field of toxicology. The TPCN staff member may refer callers to the nearest hospital and assist in the person’s initial treatment and follow-up care. These centers are not only a valuable public health resource but they also save the state and Texans money by avoiding unnecessary hospital visits.

TMA and TCEP have many concerns about the proposed consolidation. As mentioned before, the value of these centers to the public is immeasurable. Not only do they provide information that saves lives, but they also keep Texans out of the emergency room, which saves the person, the hospital, local governments and the state money. About 72 percent of poison center callers are safely treated at home. That saves each region's residents over $18 million/year in unnecessary health care costs. One center for the entire state simply cannot serve the entire state of Texas and provide the same type of cost savings to the patient and the state.

To maintain national accreditation, a center must provide evidence that it adequately serves its entire region. It is unlikely that a single poison center could adequately serve more than 10 million people. Texas’ projected population will soon exceed 30 million. In a state as large as Texas, we do not believe one center can adequately serve the population, potentially jeopardizing the accreditation of the poison center. The reason that national accreditation is so important is that any loss of accreditation status could negatively affect federal and/or local funding. Texas poison centers are estimated to receive, under the current continuing resolution $2,076,967. This represents to the Texas poison centers an increase of $258,629 over last year due to the increase in the Texas population. Losing accreditation would mean losing that funding as well.

Additionally, an advantage of having multiple poison centers across the state is the sharing of toxicology information and knowledge. This shared information is invaluable when training health care professionals and providing information to the public. Consolidating the centers would mean losing the toxicology knowledge and expertise “multiplier effect”.

Also, the six poison centers in Texas each provide a full-time education program dedicated to reducing the incidence of unintentional poisonings and to increase awareness of the Poison Center’s services. Having fewer centers in Texas would limit the amount and scope of public education services.

Our final concern relates to the threat of bioterrorism and how Texas would respond in case of an attack. If such an attack did occur, one center would be unable to respond appropriately to calls and requests for information. State preparedness is a national priority and we strongly support the need for emergency preparedness against potential bioterrorism attacks.

In conclusion, consolidating the Texas Poison Control Network centers into a single entity would have far more negative consequences than positive outcomes. We believe it is in Texas’ interest to maintain three to four centers. The perceived cost savings to the state will be insignificant compared to the increase in potential emergency room and hospital visits, the loss of toxicology knowledge and expertise, the loss of federal funding and the safety of the public.

[tblue37]

46. Thanks. I just sent this to her. nt

[tblue37]

47. Please K also when you R, because some people don't read the

greatest page, so despite the thread's many recs and its prominent place on the greatest page, those who skip that page won't see this message unless we keep it visible on the General Discussion page.

Thanks!

[horseshoecrab]

48. k&r

emailed my senators. Thanks for the heads-up tblue37 and daughter!

:kick:

horseshoecrab

[WinkyDink]

49. Yet another scheme for the oligarchy to kill us off.

[tblue37]

50. Their callousness is astonishing--but so is their stupidity. nt

[glinda]

51. K & R n/t

[Solly Mack]

52. k

[Left_Is_Right]

56. I wish I had a genie...

I would make a wish that the number for poison control would become invisible to rethuglicans and neocon teabaggers...or when a rethug does call it...it forwards on to a phone sex line...manned (pun intended) by 80 yr old transvestites...hell...who am I kidding...the rethugs would probably like that

The world could stand to lose some rethugs...uhh...ok...the world could stand to lose A LOT of rethugs...and teabagging neocons...

Lefty,

[bengalherder]

62. The eighty year old transvestites

Are probably more compassionate than neocons and would probably be as helpful as they could be in cases of poisoning...

[Wind Dancer]

57. K & R!

Nothing surprises me anymore, absolutely nothing. Thanks for letting us know.

[Vincardog]

58. Done K & R

[DirkGently]

59. Double-done & Rec'd. Unbelievable.

[tblue37]

60. Thanks for the K, too. nt

[DirkGently]

64. My pleasure. Time to play whack-a-mole with Republican nuttery.

[tblue37]

.

[tblue37]

.

[tblue37]

78. .

[pinkkillersheep]

63. As someone who has caused her mother to call poison control once or twice...

...I will gladly sign this and forward it along!

[tblue37]

65. Thanks--and welcome to DU! nt

[DesertRat]

66. K&R

[tblue37]

73. Thanks! nt

[ProfessionalLeftist]

67. Done and passed on as well. n/t

[Shagbark Hickory]

68. Oh Jesus. Now that? I wonder if you called a poison control center in another country.

would it go through and everything?
Its not like they check your id when you call those hotlines.

[DissedByBush]

69. Serious blinders on for cost

"he poison control centers in the US prevent most callers from ever going to he hospital"

That right there probably saves billions overall in our medical system, and we know a good chunk of the people going to the emergency room will be covered under some sort of government health plan, so that's probably hundreds of millions of direct tax dollar savings.

[Capitalocracy]

87. It will also lead to a LOT more people under a pile of medical debt.

because they have to go to the emergency room.

[orbitalman]

70. Done. Both Senators & Rep.

[kestrel91316]

71. Americans obviously don't want or need federally funded poison control centers.

Who are we to want to foist such on them? Let them eat coumadin.

:sarcasm:

[laylah]

72. K&R Sent far

and wide. Thank you for the heads up!

[Omaha Steve]

74. Done

[Sienna86]

75. Done

.

[tblue37]

Thank you, everybody! I knew DU would take up this cause.

It is such an important issue, and with your help we are getting the message spread far and wide!

[tblue37]

77. I don't know why that double posted. Sorry. nt

[tblue37]

76. Thank you, everybody! I knew DU would take up this cause.

It is such an important issue, and with your help we are getting the message spread far and wide!

[findrskeep]

80. Done. Thank you for letting us know about this.

[elias7]

81. Done (ED physician here)

I call NH poison control once or twice a month, and they provide excellent input, follow-up and toxicologist referral when necessary.

Will forward this to my colleagues...

[tblue37]

88. Thank you, thank you, thank you! nt

[elias7]

92. Apparently, funding was slashed 3 years ago

and we now use a regional poison control out of Maine (I work in Southern New Hampshire).

Not sure why this would be considered a reasonable way to cut medical costs, but I'm afraid people in general are (as usual) not being informed, or if they are, they are being (as usual) misinformed...

Tell your daughter thanks for me...

[tblue37]

98. And she asked me to thank everyone at DU for helping to keep this

visble, for following the link to send the letter, and for passing it along as much as possible.

[onestepforward]

82. Done!

[Moody]

83. Done!

[rasputin1952]

84. Done! Thanks for posting this!

Let's go DU!

[tblue37]

89. Thanks for helping! nt

[Moosepoop]

85. Done!

Kicked and recced, too!

[w8liftinglady]

86. My sister,who works in public health in Tx... crapped herself when I told her this.

"Do you know how many places I have to supply rabies/snake bite and other antivenoms to?"

She'll vote next time.
Trust me.

[tblue37]

91. A lot of formerly lackadaisical people are waking up to the importance of voting. nt

[Divernan]

93. I just forwarded this to over 50 people and to reporter at Post-Gazette(Pittsburgh).

I had close calls with 2 of my kids when they were each at that not quite 2 year old stage. One climbed up (somehow) to the top of a five foot high dresser in my bedroom and ate a bottle of orange-flavored baby aspirin(back in the 1960's). If I hadn't found the empty bottle which she "hid" behind the open door to my bedroom, I would have put her to bed that night and she never would have awakened. Not quite so serious was when my son ate a half bottle of Flintstone chewable vitamins.

It is really critical that parents can get immediate information from the poison control centers, for FREE, and right over the telephone. Thanks for posting this, and thank your daughter, too.

[tblue37]

97. Thanks. PM me if the reporter follows up on it. I'd like to know if anything comes of it. nt

[sam sarrha]

94. theres a Shadow group controling the GOP, the Dominionists. answer to "What the hells go'n on" >Link

THIS IS SOME INFORMATION ON DOMINIONISM... this is a really weird Cult Religion. they believe the poor are being punished by god for their lack of faith, so it is a sin to help them or not tormenting them. trickle down theory doesn't involve money.. what trickles down is god's blessings for total submition to the rich and gods great plan to make them richer, god and Jesus only favor the rich.. so it is a sin to help the poor and a sin to tax the rich.

the GOP isn't following an Ideology, they are obeying a Dogma, that is why they wont compromise.. it would be a sin against their god

more links
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=614987&mesg_id=621321

[tblue37]

96. Here is what my daughter says about DU and the way you all jumped in to help:

"You guys are a force of nature. :c) This one is all you guys. Thank you for helping!!"

[Zoigal]

99. Am sure Sen Boxer would vote against it, but

reminded her just in case. Honestly can't comprehend the ignorance of the present Republicans
in Congress. Thank your daughter for bringing this to our attention.....z

[FourScore]

100. Done! nt