Elderly

Eight Poor, Backward States Reject Expansion Of Medicaid For Their Poor, Sick, Disabled And Elderly Citizens: Reprehensible!

Ronald Leave a comment

Eight states, among the poorest in the nation, and mostly in the South, have now seen their Governors and Republican legislatures reject an expansion of the Medicaid program, which is so desperately needed by their poor, sick, disabled, and elderly citizens, an absolutely reprehensible development!

The states are Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina, Texas, Oklahoma and Maine.

2.8 million people will suffer, with half of them being in Texas. So this means that Governors ranging from Rick Perry, Nikki Haley, Paul LePage to Bobby Jindal, all except LePage having shown interest in running for President, have taken a hard stand against those less fortunate!

It is unbelievable that in 21st century America that we could have such backward leaders of states, who show contempt for their own citizens, and yet are likely to be reelected by an ignorant, uncaring population, and in states where, with the exception of Maine, the population claims to be “religious” and “good Christians”, but defy the message of their faith, to care for the poor and disadvantaged!

What Republicans Will Never Understand: The Role Of Wealth In Politics!

Ronald Leave a comment

Let’s face the facts: People who become politicians invariably are wealthy, or become wealthy, before they serve in public office.

The fact that politicians are wealthy is not a problem. What IS a problem is when they fail to understand the daily struggles of average Americans, and go out of the way to benefit their new status–wealthy Americans, who do not need political favors because they are already privileged!

These politicians in the Republican Party all love to talk about the struggles that their grandparents and parents went through, which is fine and good. Marco Rubio talked about it; so did Tim Pawlenty, Chris Christie, and numerous others who gave speeches at the Republican National Convention. But to get them to translate to the idea that today there are millions of people who are not as fortunate as they are, to be born to wealth as Mitt Romney was, or to live a prosperous middle class existence, and then inherit millions from family or in laws, as Paul Ryan has experienced, shows that they have no concern for the average American who is not born to wealth, or does not inherit money!

Let politicians have their wealth, but let them, as Franklin D. Roosevelt or Ted Kennedy or many other wealthy Democrats, not be so selfish and greedy as to only care about people of their social class, as wealthy Republicans have proved is their only motive in life!

FDR and Ted Kennedy demonstrated real concern and desire to help those not as fortunate as themselves and made America a better place, and that is a lot more admirable than Mitt Romney or Paul Ryan or others in the GOP having no concern about those below their class, and in fact, condemning middle class and poor people to the bottom of the pile, forgetting it is not only adults, but children and the elderly being abandoned in the name of greed, selfishness, and lack of compassion!

As Republicans Push For Cuts To Food Stamp Program, Poverty Rises, Particularly In Red (Republican) States!

Ronald 1 Comment

The Republican Party is determined to cut the Food Stamp program as a boondoggle, wasteful spending, and used by recipients, it is claimed, in an abusive manner.

The reality, however, is that about one out of five Americans in polls have stated that they cannot afford their necessary food supply in the midst of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

And the irony is that inability to afford food, and the need for food stamps therefore, is most prevalent in the RED or Republican states of the South and Border states–including Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, West Virginia and Louisiana!

So it is RED states that suffer from hunger, and the reality is that about 50 percent of the food stamp recipients are children, and another 8 percent are elderly.

Statistics show that 18 percent of recipients have no income at all; 41 percent have half the poverty level income; and only 14 percent have incomes above the poverty level. Also, less than 10 percent get a welfare payment along with food stamps. And the assets of these poor souls is less than $100 in savings per family!

Is this the best we can do, and is this what the Republican Party wishes to stand for–to undermine the groups and states that vote for them in state and national elections?

This is a disgrace, which is an understatement!

Republican Party Platform So Far To The Right Politically That It Cannot Appeal To Moderates And Independents!

Ronald 1 Comment

The Republican Party is formulating its platform a week before the Republican National Convention in Tampa next week, and it is so far to the Right politically, that it will have the effect of alienating to moderates and Independents!

The platform denies any abortions, no matter whether due to rape, incest, or life of the mother.

The platform takes a harsh stand on immigration, in line with the Arizona and Alabama laws now being sued in federal court by the Justice Department.

The platform supports strict ID voters laws, designed to suppress the votes of the young, the elderly, the poor, and minorities.

The platform supports the Ryan budget, including the privatization of Medicare and the massive tax cuts for the wealthy, while cutting Food Stamps, Pell Grants, and other programs for the middle class and the poor.

The platform refuses to accept gay rights, including gay marriage, but also rejects any recognition of civil unions, keeping gay Americans second class citizens!

These are just some of the outrageous planks in the GOP platform, and it is impossible to imagine that sane people will wish to support such a vindictive, extremist platform that would be designed to undermine the rights, freedoms, and privileges of millions of Americans!

Moderate Republicans will flee from a party they no longer recognize, and Independents will, by large margins, swing over to the Democrats, because there will be no alternative choice that is rational and reasonable!

A Day To Celebrate: 77th Anniversary Of Social Security Act Signed Into Law By Franklin D. Roosevelt!

Ronald Leave a comment

Today is indeed a day to celebrate, the 77th anniversary of the signing of the Social Security Act into law, in 1935, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, his signature domestic accomplishment among many of his New Deal programs.

Social Security gave dignity to the elderly, to widows, to children and orphans of a deceased worker, and to the disabled and handicapped!

It gave a sense of security to people at vulnerable times in their lives, and it came decades after similar actions in Germany, Great Britain, and France, the other major industrialized nations!

It has worked very well, and is only seen as in trouble because the Social Security fund has been raided constantly by reckless Congresses!

The future of Social Security long term could be guaranteed by raising the limit of $110,000 income being taxed to be what Medicare is, an unlimited income being taxed!

Also, if unearned income was taxed as earned income is, it would have no problems for an eternity of time.

But the Republican Party, most members opposed at the time to the legislation,; then having Barry Goldwater in the 1960s wanting to destroy it; and now Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan continuing the assault, makes this election a battle to preserve this key to the social safety net, and to promote common decency toward those who depend on it, and have contributed to it over their work lives!

Franklin D. Roosevelt should be saluted for his great leadership in guaranteeing a dignified life to those who, at different times and situations in their lives, need protection from government. This is not something that churches and synagogues and charities could possibly provide on an adequate level!

The Voter ID Laws: Based On Lies And A Denial Of The Voting Rights Act Of 1965!

Ronald Leave a comment

Many states, all controlled by Republican Governors and legislatures, are systematically violating the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in an attempt to fix the Presidential Election of 2012 in favor of GOP candidate Mitt Romney!

After having manipulated the results in the Presidential Election of 2000, with the help of the partisan Republican Supreme Court, now strict photo ID laws are being imposed to cripple the ability of the elderly, the poor, the young, and minorities to vote, knowing full well that these groups would be likely to vote Democratic for Barack Obama!

Claiming that there has been voter fraud in the past, when there are almost no such examples, now the state of Pennsylvania has openly admitted there is NO evidence of such fraud, but still they want to disenfranchise people, a violation of the civil rights laws, and a disgrace to the idea of democracy!

So the Republican Party is saying that the only way they can win is by denying people the right to vote, and also spending inordinate amounts of money to “buy” the election!

What a disgrace for a political party to be stifling the will of the people!

The 2012 Farm Bill: Favoring Big Agriculture, But Cutting Food Stamps As “Waste, Fraud And Abuse”!

Ronald 1 Comment

The 2012 Farm Bill is becoming the center of controversy as House Republicans are proposing major cuts in Food Stamps, while favoring Sugar, Cotton, and Dairy producers with subsidies that are not truly needed, as farm prices are better, and farm income is at historic levels!

So again, the Republicans are trashing food stamps, as “waste, fraud, and abuse”, while not seeing the same with Big Agriculture!

The fact that poor children are the majority on food stamps, along with the elderly and single mothers, has no effect on the mean spirited Tea Party Republicans!

They would argue that some people on food stamps “abuse” the system, and no one is denying that there is likely some abuse, a few percent, maybe, but there is far greater abuse by agricultural interests who do not need subsidies in good times, but have lobbyists who can fight for them, while poor people, who would be denied necessary nutrition, do not have that advantage.

The fact that school breakfasts and school lunches for the poorest children will be cut dramatically has no effect on the Republicans in Congress.

The fact that lack of good nutrition can stunt the growth and health of children has no effect either.

The fact that the food stamp program is a minor part of the Farm bill and farm programs does not phase these members of the majority in the House of Representatives.

No, they would rather trash the poor, kick them down when they are down, and lack concern for children that they constantly fight for to be born, no matter what, but once they are born, to hell with what happens to them and their mothers, and also to hell with the elderly, who have their lives shortened by poor nutrition, leading to bad health, as well!

And yet, these Republicans are good church goers on the Sabbath!

What hypocrisy, which Jesus Christ would condemn, as he cared about the poor, and did not see religion as based on the acquisition of wealth, and the promotion of selfishness and greed, and lack of concern for thy fellow human being!

The Crux Of The Matter: Barack Obama’s Speech In Cleveland Sets The Standard!

Ronald 1 Comment

President Obama today gave a rousing speech in Cleveland, making clear that he was not willing to give Mitt Romney a massive tax cut, along with other millionaires and billionaires, and that much more important was to give basic security to the elderly, the sick, and those seeking work and suffering from the Great Recession for the past four and a half years!

In a nation in which the average family has suffered a drop in assets of 39 percent in the past few years, including on retirement savings, housing, jobs, and ability to provide college education to one’s children, Obama said the only way to grow the economy was the creation of a strong middle class, based on education, investment in infrastructure projects, and the utilization of technology to find new methods of economic expansion, including energy projects that plan for a world less dependent on oil and coal.

Instead of returning to deregulation and massive tax cuts for the rich, Obama said government can be good and productive and helpful in bringing back the American economy, and that if we are all to be only thinking about ourselves, that will not revive the American economy.

The election is a clear cut choice between two philosophies, and Obama declared that it was a crucial, turning point election that will determine the long term direction of the country.

If one uses common sense, and realizes that the way to move forward is to think of ourselves as “WE”, instead of “ME”, then Obama will win the election in November!

The Wisconsin Disaster And What It May Portend

Ronald 2 Comments

The failure last Tuesday to remove Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker from office by recall is a major blow to the labor movement and to progressivism.

It is a warning sign that workers, whether union or non union, whether public service workers or those employed by private employers, can expect that many of the hard won reforms of the 20th century could be taken away by Republican Governors, a Republican controlled Congress and a Republican President in the future.

It is a sign also of the power of wealthy corporate interests to destroy our political system, with the assistance of the right wing Supreme Court which allowed the Citizens United decision in 2010, which has now led to the right wing takeover in many states, in the House of Representatives, and was able to help Scott Walker survive, despite the abuse of power by him and his Republican colleagues in the state legislature. The ability of wealthy individuals to contribute large amounts of money without limit distorted the whole political process!

The fact that Mitt Romney was able to raise more money last month than Barack Obama for the first time is another danger sign that everything progressives and liberals have fought for could be going down the drain!

It is hard not to be very pessimistic about the short term and long term future, but those who believe in the rights of workers, women, minorities, children, the elderly, and wish to promote education, health care and the environment, cannot sit back and mope over the results!

If the forces for democracy decide to give up, instead of mobilizing for the upcoming campaign, and if they do not convince citizens how important it is to vote for their own futures, then indeed the country will be moving closer to a form of corporate fascism that will destroy the great progress made over a long period of generations of hard fought struggles!

The Justice Department Throws Down The Gauntlet To Florida Governor Rick Scott: Stop Illegal Purging Of Voter Rolls!

Ronald 1 Comment

The Justice Department under Attorney General Eric Holder has finally taken action, throwing down the gauntlet to Florida Governor Rick Scott to cease and desist from illegal purging of the voter rolls in the Sunshine State, including the elderly, Latinos and Hispanics, African Americans, and others, including college students.

A 91 year old man, who has voted consistently for 70 years and served in World War II, was told he could not vote. Others who have had the right are being denied it with threatening letters, putting them under unnecessary stress about a basic American right, the right to vote.

Florida is right now breaking the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which included Florida because of its past discrimination against African Americans, and their long history of racial segregation and racial violence.

Scott is lawless, reckless, defiant, abusive, and a disgrace to all law abiding Floridians! Having evaded prison for Medicare fraud, he is arrogant and aggressive in setting out to fix the 2012 Presidential Election in the same fashion of denying the right to vote, as occurred in the Presidential Election of 2000, leading to the disastrous eight years of George W. Bush!

It is good to see that the Obama Administration is not going to allow prejudice, corruption, scandal, and discrimination to interfere with the right to vote!

In many ways, this situation sadly reminds us of Alabama Governor George Wallace and Georgia Governor Lester Maddox, two racists who disgraced their states and the nation during the 1960s, with their attacks on civil rights. What Rick Scott is doing will doom his name in history, but then it must be said that it is doubtful that Scott even cares what damage and harm he is doing to his reputation, since he is such a despicable human being!

If only the recall method was allowed in Florida as it is in many other states, including Wisconsin, which will determine the fate of another “Bully” Governor, Scott Walker, next Tuesday!