My little op-ed
The problem is that we all know that there will have to be changes in Medicare and Social Security, because it is sloppy and wasteful. Everybody has a fit with the idea of raising the retirement age, but for those who already have their SS and Medicare, Republicans say it will not affect those, I do not know if i believe them, yet I am not so sure about what the Dems are preaching either. I myself do not get gobs of money, I have to live on $665.00 a month. Not alot can't even get a little place of my own. I can't afford a cut, and there are those worse off then I am, some of them have children, lost their homes, not enough to eat, no health care, no doctors. And the Republicans think if they cut off the aid that, that will force people to go to work. The problem with that is THERE ARE NO JOBS, no one is hiring, and they are not hiring those out of work, that is discrimination, the worst kind. There are those that have been out of work for two years, and all I hear is the Republicans will not give up the subsidies to the rich, oil companies, and corporations. Those are their pet projects that is where they get their spending monies. I am so mad, no one wants to be square and step up to plate and do what is right and what we the PEOPLE know and understand, what needs to be done. They would rather cause a disaster, so profound that our country would slide off the scale of humanity.
How can we the PEOPLE, make a difference, make those Washington idiots that we call congress(Dem and Repub) notice us and listen. Maybe we should take them hostage, make them live the way we do. Take away all those fancy things they love, the medical, their homes, their car, and lastly their wages. Make them file for food stamps, medicaid, and stand in long lines for unemployment checks, or make some of them live the way the 99ers do, in homeless shelters, in tents, scrounging for food. At this point, I am one person, I need PEOPLE who will help stand for our rights, freedom, guaranteed by the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. And Lord, not the Tea Party, they would take us back to slavery if they could, they believe black people have no rights, they believe all immigrants should be returned to their former country. And they believe that women should be bare foot and pregnant, at all times. No abortion, no public schools, no college educations for the middle class,no regulations on business, no unions, no child labor laws, no voting freedom, We need to take a stand, before the middle class disappears, before what we had as children no longer exists for our children's children. LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK SPREAD THE WORD, LETS GET SOME MOVEMENT ON THIS. We are better than what the Republicans and the Tea Party think of us.
So is multimillionaire President Obama is something different than a Third Way-loving neoliberal? I can't wait to hear multimillionaire talking head Lawrence O'Donnell explain this one:
Yes, I get the alleged end game. I know that 60 of the GOP freshmen have signed the "no tax" pledge of unelected Koch legbreaker and unindicted Jack Abramoff bagman Grover Norquist [born wealthy, trust fund baby who earns $200K annually from part-time job directing Americans for Tax Reform and other miscellaneous income; married to PR flak Samah Alrayyes Norquist, income unknown], which means that at least 38 Democrats have to sign onto any debt ceiling deal. So surely House Dems would use that leverage to protect Social Security and Medicare, right?
The problem here is, President Obama really likes that old-time DLC religion. He keeps telling us he actually wants a Republican grand bargain on Social Security and Medicare (let's not forget the Catfood Commission), and has a track record of pushing House Democrats to bend over for things they'd rather not.
Hey, maybe I'm wrong. I hope so. But since we've known all along that the Republicans would never actually allow a default, wouldn't the real stroke of 11-dimensional progressive genius have been to refuse to negotiate at all? To say, "People are hurting enough and this deficit talk is a manufactured crisis"? Nope. He wants these deep austerity cuts. He'll do whatever he can to get them.
P.S. I thought I would add a little perspective to the debate over cutting "only" $1200 a year from women in their 90s who make less than $15,000 a year.
WASHINGTON -- The White House on Wednesday closed the door a little more on the debt proposal being floated by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) [Ed. note: apprx. $17 million; wife Elaine Chao, board member of Wells Fargo and other boards, compensation unknown], a measure already under siege by conservatives.You got that, people? This is from the White House press secretary: "Bigger is better." You say "rope-a-dope," I say "watch your wallets."
"This is not a preferred option," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney [Ed. note: annual salary $172K, married to ABC News correspondent Claire Shipman, believed to be $700K per annum] said of McConnell's proposal in his daily briefing.
McConnell's proposal for avoiding debt default -- to transfer full power to raise the debt ceiling to the White House for the remainder of Obama's current term, cutting Congress out of the process -- does nothing to address deficit reduction, Carney said. And Obama is set on making sizable cuts.
"The president is firmly committed to significant cuts in spending and to dealing with our deficit and debt problems in a balanced way," he said. "Bigger is better. ... It's an opportunity for a game-changer, to put the United States on much firmer ground as we really get into the 21st century and the economic competition that confronts us."
Yes, I get the alleged end game. I know that 60 of the GOP freshmen have signed the "no tax" pledge of unelected Koch legbreaker and unindicted Jack Abramoff bagman Grover Norquist [born wealthy, trust fund baby who earns $200K annually from part-time job directing Americans for Tax Reform and other miscellaneous income; married to PR flak Samah Alrayyes Norquist, income unknown], which means that at least 38 Democrats have to sign onto any debt ceiling deal. So surely House Dems would use that leverage to protect Social Security and Medicare, right?
The problem here is, President Obama really likes that old-time DLC religion. He keeps telling us he actually wants a Republican grand bargain on Social Security and Medicare (let's not forget the Catfood Commission), and has a track record of pushing House Democrats to bend over for things they'd rather not.
Hey, maybe I'm wrong. I hope so. But since we've known all along that the Republicans would never actually allow a default, wouldn't the real stroke of 11-dimensional progressive genius have been to refuse to negotiate at all? To say, "People are hurting enough and this deficit talk is a manufactured crisis"? Nope. He wants these deep austerity cuts. He'll do whatever he can to get them.
P.S. I thought I would add a little perspective to the debate over cutting "only" $1200 a year from women in their 90s who make less than $15,000 a year.
Congressmen living on public dole at the rate of former Presidents, each of them, has no business serving up limits on Medicare or Social Security without being perceived as the self serving thieves they are.
ReplyDeleteThis is the clearest evidence that both term limits and no Congressional pensions should be a part of America's budget. Place Congress on the same level with others who must rely on Medicare and Social Security to level the playing field and to align national perceptions where bias has no place in the decision making.