Republicans! STOP using my country as a political football

As the battle over Health care rages on in the US, the Senate and the House are about to head home for the August recess and the President is having "beer summits" over something that should never have become a national issue. The republicans are saying that Socialized medicine will lead to more people having a poorer quality of care and more people dying.

I am here to give the republicans a few facts about Socialized health care. In 1948 my government launched the National Health Service or NHS as we call it today. In 1948, average life expectancy for women in the UK was 70 and for men was 66, whereas last year the average life expectancy was 78.3 for men and 82.1 for women.

In the twelve years since labour has been in power, funding to the NHS has more than tripled with the annual budget now being £92.2 Billion compared to £34.6 Billion in 1997. And in 2007 a study by the Royal Commission on Health care showed that 92% of patients were SATISFIED with the care they received.

Is our system perfect? No way, we still have an annual deficit of over £900 Million in the NHS but our system is getting better all the time. And our doctors are leading the way in many areas of medicine, just last week a Hull hospital was featured on the national news for pioneering treatment of Stroke patients using Clot buster medicines.

Many of our hospitals are on the list of the best hospitals in the world, including Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, an NHS hospital.

Do we pay higher taxes than Americans? Sure, we pay between 31 and 52 percent of our income (including Income Tax and National Insurance) but when we go to the doctor, we don't pay ridiculous amounts of money in co-pays and deductibles or get told that our treatment has been denied by bureaucratic insurance companies.

But what you don't know is that our employers also match our National Insurance contributions. We don't miss this money because we use a Pay as You Earn system or PAYE to pay our taxes, our employers pay our taxes directly to the Inland Revenue.

We are not all dying in the streets as the Republicans would have Americans believe! If you are a republican and are trashing the NHS, please STOP using my country as a political football!

RIP Sir Bobby Robson

Tributes are flowing for Sir Bobby Robson, Former England Soccer manager who died today age 76.

I have been trying to sum up the man, the legend or the manager all day but for once I cannot find the words.

So I will merely say, "Sir Bobby, You will be missed"

RIP SIR BOBBY ROBSON 1933-2009

Ask to see her Green Card Jim!

UPDATE: Jim decided to cancel Orly Taitz's appearance on Common Sense!

The head of the Birther movement Dr. Orly Taitz Esq. will be on Common Sense with Jim Alger later today.

When I learned of this via Mr Alger's Twitter Feed I asked him to ask her if she even had a brain. I took the time to Google Dr. Taitz and stumbled accross her Youtube channell. The premise of her entire claim is some obscure Hawaii law that allows for Hawaii residents to register their foreign born children with the Department of Health in Hawaii. She also claims that the Natuarl-Born Citizen law requires that BOTH parents be citizens of the United States.

My question is has she even READ Article 2 of the Constitution, because I have. If the child was born in the United States, there is no requirement for both parents to be considered natural born citizens.

I also read on her blog that a Grand Jury of 35 people, in Texas has indicted Obama on charges of fraud and treason, who gave the Grand Jury the authority to convene? As is required by LAW in ALL 50 STATES.

The founding fathers of the United States surely did not intend Article 2 of the Constitution to be used in such a manner. Surely they did not intend for it to be used in an attempt to usurp a legitamately elected President? To dominate National News, and to distract from the very important business of running the goddamn country.

Orly Taitz calls Obama a Usurper, but I propose this, that it is YOU Orly Taitz who is the Usurper, That it is YOU who is usurping the Supreme Court of the United States for your own twisted agenda.

Oh and don't forget this little snippet, Orly Taitz herself is NOT American, or at least she doesn't sound it - Ask to see her Green Card Jim!

You can listen to Common Sense with Jim Alger by clicking here

Birthers debunked by their own evidence.

I recently found this image of Barack Obama's Indonesian school files on a comment posted by a "Birther" on the Houston Chronicle's website.

The commenter claimed that "Bangsa" means "Citizenship", I cannot confirm or deny that Bangsa does in fact mean Citizenship in Indonesian, however what the "Birthers" have failed to notice is that written on line 2 is the word, HONOLULU, followed by his date of birth.

What else could the type written words preceding Honolulu mean other than Place and Date of Birth?

So lets recap the score - President Obama - Too many to count.

Batshit Crazies - BIG FAT ZERO.

Sarah Palin: Candidate or Crazy

According to the Associated Press, Sarah Palin's post-gubernatorial debut in the Lower 48 states is closed to the media, so my question is "Sarah, what are you on?". There has been much speculation as to what Sarah from Alaska will do following her early departure from the Governor's Mansion at the weekend. Will she or won't she run for the Presidency in 2012? Will she run as an independent? Or will she ditch politics altogether?

Palin has been the butt of many jokes, including impersonations by Tina Fey and more recently William Shatner. But will she be a joke in 2012?

Palin is uninformed, undisciplined and not a confident public speaker, so I can see why people would discount her as a potential candidate for the White House in 2012. If she decided to ditch the Republican Party and stand as an independent, she wouldn't stand a cat in hell's chance at winning the Oval Office, however don't count her out just yet. We have two more years until the republican primaries, so I wouldn't be suprised if Sarah from Alaska goes on a tour of the Lower 48 states and learns a hell of alot of stuff she doesn't know now and gains alot more supporters.

British Bookmakers have her at 10-1 odds of winning in 2012 but [if she decided to run] she would be running against a Democratic incumbent who won his first election with a sweeping landslide. Unless Barack Obama does something really stupid like NOT running, Sarah Palin doesn't stand a chance.

She is a renegade, she doesn't like to follow party instructions and she is a royal pain in the ass, but she has a loyal following and she will be around for a long time yet. No getting rid of a self-described "Hockey Mom" that easily.

My advice to Palin is LEARN, LEARN, LEARN.

"I surrender - Osama is that way"

On Monday, David Milliband MP, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, stated in a speech to members of NATO, that he wants to talk to "Moderate" members of the Taliban, to encourage stability in the War torn Afghanistan region.

Mr Milliband's statement comes just days after the fourth anniversary of the Second of the London Bombings on July 21st 2005, and one of the worst month's for British Forces since the start of the conflict. Does this sound right to you? Milliband wants to talk peace, while our Boys and Girls come home in Flag draped coffins?

Well that is what he said! Mr Milliband thinks that moderate members of the Taliban exist? Does he think that they are just going to walk up to the nearest person shooting at them and say - "I join you - Osama is that way"? I say - What the hell?

What the hell happened to "The United Kingdom does not negotiate does not negotiate with terrorists"? And that is, plainly and simply, what they are! These are the people that coldly took over 3000 British and American lives on September 11, 2001. These are the people that have been killing our brave young men and women for the last 8 years. These are the people that taught six of our own Citizens, to strike with Bombs at the very heart of our Capital. These people are not moderate Mr Milliband, they are killing our soldiers.

This is why the staff here at The Atlantic Hopper have nominated the Foreign Secretary for a coveted spot on "Jackass of the Week" on Common Sense with Jim Alger. Yes, that is right, Jackass of the Week, this was truly a Jackass thing for Mr Milliband to say.

Tune in to find out if David Milliband wins "Jackass of the Week". Common Sense with Jim Alger airs Friday at 7pm Eastern, 4pm Pacific and 12am London.

You can tune in to the show or download the podcast at http://www.GetCommonSenseRadio.com

Birthers: Bite Me!

In recent weeks in the United States, the so-called "Birther" movement has been gaining momentum, even taking over a Republican Town Hall meeting with some crazy woman screaming at her representative "He is a Citizen of Kenya... I want My Country Back".

They are of course talking about President Barack Hussein Obama, who none of us could fail to have noticed, was elected to office by a sweeping landslide in November 2008. If you haven't noticed this fact, please go crawl back under the rock that you crawled out from underneath. Their claim is that despite having produced a legitimate Hawaiian Birth Certificate, despite having a United States Passport and despite having passed the Secret Service background checks that Presidential Candidates have to go through to be considered as a candidate, that Barack Obama was not born in the United States, he was born in Kenya.

Robert Gibbs, White House Press Secretary, gave the claims even more unwarranted attention the following day by saying, "President Barack Obama is a Citizen of the greatest Country on the face of this Earth."

The "Birthers" claim that President Barack Obama handed to the electoral authorities, none other than a "fake" Birth Certificate. And that two Honolulu newspapers that carried announcements of Obama's birth in August of 1961 are also forgeries.

Nothing that anyone can say or do will ever appease these Batshit Crazies. Nothing will ever convince them that Obama is not part of the largest conspiracy in living memory. Obama is a natural born citizen of the United States of America, and has proven it several times. He was born in HONOLULU!

My message to these "Batshit Crazies" is ..............................................BITE ME!