Elderly

Florida Republicans Attempting To Prevent Young Voter Registration And Prosecute Teachers Who Promote Good Citizenship!

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The Republican Party of Florida and Governor Rick Scott are in the process of promoting prosecution of teachers who encourage their high school seniors to register to vote, the ultimate lesson in good citizenship.

The new voter registration law in Florida, very similar to that in other GOP governed states, makes it much more difficult for people to register to vote, requiring government sponsored ID cards; making it harder for college students to vote on their campuses; cutting down the number of days of voting ahead of Election Day; requiring people who change counties to cast a provisional ballot at the polls, which might not be counted; discouraging the League of Women Voters from promoting registration due to a demand that all signed applications must be handed in no later than two days after applications are completed; and assessing fines of up to $1,000 for delayed submission of applications.

Two teachers are facing fines for having missed the 48 hour deadline for student applications, which prosecutes teachers for promoting good citizenship, and discourages new, young voters.

It is clear that the GOP and Governor Scott are trying to intimidate minorities, young people, the elderly, and the poor so as to manipulate the vote to favor the Republican Presidential nominee in 2012. This is a violation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965; the 14th Amendment; the 15th Amendment; the 19th Amendment; the 24th Amendment; and the 26th Amendment; and is being pursued in court as a corrupt attempt to fix election results in Florida, as well as elsewhere, by the Obama Administration.

Meanwhile, however, two teachers face fines, and this is another slap in the face to educators, who already have been shown lack of respect by other legislation in Florida which demeans their profession!

Herman Cain and Erick Erickson And The Republicans: Reverse Robin Hood!

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Herman Cain promotes his 9-9-9 plan, which economists tell us will tax the poor, the sick, the disabled, and the elderly more, while lowering the tax liability of the wealthy much more than it is today!

Erick Erickson, the conservative blogger, mouths what most conservatives and Republicans say, that the 47 percent of the population who do not pay federal income tax need to start paying, and stop expecting the other 53 percent to carry the burden.

The fact that the 47 percent who do not pay federal income taxes DO pay federal payroll taxes in the form of Social Security and Medicare, and also pay state and local income taxes and sales taxes is not considered.

The fact that most of this 47 percent are poor and getting poorer, or are sick, disabled, or elderly is not considered!

There is no consideration of the fact that the wealthy top one percent have 40 percent of the national income!

There is no consideration that the average person of African American or Hispanic ancestry has just FIVE percent of the assets of the average white person!

The fact that millions of Americans are losing their homes, their jobs, and their pensions is not considered, as long as the wealthy are allowed to keep their assets and continue them on the growth pattern.

The conservatives and Republicans are like Scrooge in the Christmas Carol of Charles Dickens.

And they will call themselves “good Christians” while condemning the poor, the disabled, the sick, and the elderly.

In summary, Herman Cain, Erick Erickson and their ilk are modern day Robin Hoods in reverse–taking from those down and out, and giving MORE to the rich and powerful!

Do these people have any soul, any ethics, any morality? How can they often quote the Old and New Testaments in the name of their selfishness and greed?

The whole situation is mind boggling!

The Degradation And Abuse Of The Elderly In Florida: The Tip Of The Iceberg!

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The true character of a civilization is demonstrated by how it treats its elderly, and America does not look very good in that regard, and the forecast is that conditions will get much worse, particularly in the state which has more elderly citizens than any other, Florida!

An investigation by WLRN, the NPR station in South Florida, and the Miami Herald, has revealed shocking and horrific mistreatment of elderly in assisted living facilities, with lack of regulation and oversight by the Florida Agency of Health Care Administration. This is even before Governor Rick Scott and the overwhelmingly Republican legislature set out with the present massive budget cut to put all Medicaid patients into managed HMOs, a guarantee of even worse conditions in the future.

The stories of neglect and abuse are a scandal that the state of Florida should be ashamed of, but not in the present era of Rick Scott, who became wealthy by abuse and fraud in the hospital chain that he ran in the 1990s, and avoided prison by paying a heavy fine!

Anyone in their right mind who is elderly should have to start consideration of what will happen to him or her when disability or serious illness sets in, as to live in an assisted living facility, particularly in Florida, seems a ticket to a death sentence!

The Census Bureau Projection Of Future Population Trends: Age, Race, Ethnicity

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New Census Bureau projections show that very soon, a majority of children born in America will be from minority groups, particularly Hispanic, but also African American, Asian American, and Native American.

A majority of Americans under 18 will be minority heritage in about a decade, and a majority of the entire population in about 30 years.

So a majority of older, and elderly people will be white Anglos, who might be unwilling to pay more school taxes and do other things to support a youthful population that is alien to their own heritage and experience when they grew up in America.

This could lead to new conflict between young and old, and make for tensions beyond the ones already present of race, ethnicity, and economics.

This situation portends new issues and problems as America continues to age, being older on the average than at any time in American history! The future leaders of the nation will have this new challenge to face very soon!