health care

Eight Democratic Senators Caving In To End Government Shutdown, But Will Health Care Be Sacrificed By That Action?

Ronald 6 Comments

The Democratic Party is at a crossroads, now that 8 Democratic Senators caved in, and agreed to open up the government, due to the deleterious effects of the 42 day Government Shutdown over the issue of the Affordable Care Act subsidies.

With government workers not being paid, and SNAP (Food Stamp) benefits not being available, and the aviation system in chaos, and so much else, these eight Senators, including two who are retiring in 2026, and the other six not coming up for election again until 2028 and 2030, chose to gamble on a promised vote on continuing the Affordable Care Act, but without a certainty that it will be restored for 2026.

This author and blogger realizes how difficult this situation is, and disagrees vehemently with this group of Senators, but it is a reality that the Democrats, being the party of the minority, has little control over what the federal government does.

So sadly, we may see the demise of health care for 24 million Americans, insuring more deaths and human suffering, with the issue one that should insure a Democratic takeover in the midterm elections of 2026, particularly after the amazing triumph of Democrats in the recent elections in several states and cities.

It is clear, that these 8 Senators will be condemned in history, and that will be their legacy long term. And Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has lost the ability to control his caucus, a tragic circumstance.

But beyond that reality, if Donald Trump is able to rig the elections through his promotion of gerrymandering seats in the House of Representatives, or utilizes ICE and the National Guard and other law enforcement agencies to police election sites, nothing may save the American Republic, just as we celebrate the 250th Anniversary of the United States next July!

The nation is in a major crisis with no optimism left that it will work out in a positive manner!

42 Million Americans Have Food Stamps (SNAP), Now On Hold As November Begins!

Ronald 9 Comments

Waking up on the first day of November, 42 million Americans are being denied basic federal assistance to insure they have food, a travesty caused by the Republican Party and President Donald Trump, on top of the escalation of premiums for the Affordable Care Act, which if not modified, will lead to millions of Americans without any health care coverage in 2026!

And the irony is that a majority of those who are going without food support and health care coverage are residents of “Red” states, but the Republican Party and Donald Trump have no concern for their own constituents.

SNAP primarily supports children, the elderly, and people with disabilities, and the highest percentage of people who receive these meager benefits are found in Louisiana, the home state of Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, and second ranking House Majority Leader Steve Scalise.

Also high in percentage of people covered by SNAP are the Republican states of Oklahoma and West Virginia,

SNAP households with children are 34 percent; with elderly individuals 33 percent; with nonelderly individuals with a disability 18 percent; and with adults ages 18-49 without either a disability or children with 17 percent. Of course, some households include multiple categories.

Nearly four out of five household in 2023 include a child, elderly individual, or nonelderly individual with a disability.

20 percent of the population in Louisiana, New Mexico, and the District of Columbia receive SNAP benefits, and overall, 12 percent of the American people receive SNAP benefits.

This disastrous situation needs to be resolved NOW! 🙁

Horrible Tragedy: Gutting Of So Many Federal Commitments And Agencies!

Ronald 7 Comments

Six months have passed since the second Trump Presidency began, and it is now perfectly clear that Donald Trump has waged total war on the federal government, both commitments of long duration, and of agencies and departments of long standing.

The Republican Party in Congress, and the Supreme Court six member majority, are complicit in these horrendous actions.

USAID (US Agency For International Development), which provided life saving aid to millions of poor people, including particularly children, around the world, has been destroyed.

PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Program For Aids Relief), the major accomplishment of former President George W. Bush, which saved at least 26 million lives in Africa from the AIDS epidemic, has been gutted.

The Department of Education, created under President Jimmy Carter after being part of a combined agency under President Dwight D. Eisenhower, a commitment to federal engagement in education standards and support, has been cut dramatically.

FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency), created under President Jimmy Carter, had been on the chopping block until the recent Texas Flood Disaster, but still is in danger of being eliminated, as the federal government is moving toward leaving weather and natural disasters to the states to handle on their own.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Weather Service, created under Republican President Richard Nixon, are both crucial agencies facing massive cuts in personnel and ability to do their work to protect Americans.

Public funding of NPR and PBS, one tenth of one percent of the federal budget, is being cut completely.

Medicaid and SNAP (Food Stamps), both coming about under President Lyndon B. Johnson in the 1960s, are suffering massive cuts, which will affect, in particular, rural states, but overall, the disabled, the elderly, and poor children, a total travesty!

Tens of thousands of federal employees in a multitude of agencies have lost their jobs, and with it, the federal goverment loses their generations of expertise on all kinds of issues of national security, health care, environmental protections, and so many other roles the federal government has engaged in since the Progressive Era, the New Deal, the Great Society, and commitments by Presidents of both parties in the past 50 years since the 1970s.

Absolute Fury Felt Over Trump GOP Budget Bill, And The Harm It Will Cause For Millions Of Americans!

Ronald 7 Comments

This author and blogger has lived a long life, but the feeling, presently, of absolute fury over the Trump “Big And Beautiful” bill, that will harm millions of Americans who will lose Medicaid, and SNAP (Food Stamps), is something very hard to live with!

The federal government under Donald Trump is rapidly putting the nation back a century on basic needs, such as health care and nutrition, along with many other reversals of significant government policies under a multitude of American Presidents of both political parties!

This is unconscionable, and harmful to the well being of most Americans, whether indirectly or directly!

The idea that so called “moderate” Republicans have expressed dismay at the harm this legislation will visit on the lives of the disabled, the poor, the elderly, and children, and which will cause the shutdown of hospitals, nursing homes, and other medical facilities in much of the nation, has not led to their voting no on the bill. After complaining, they follow in unison to support Trump’s demands, absolutely infuriating!

Why are so many Republicans so afraid of defying Trump? Why are they so focused only on keeping their seats in Congress, when none of them depend on the membership in the House of Representatives or US Senate for their survival?

It is well known that most members of Congress are very well situated financially, and while they might wish to keep their seat in Congress, they do not have desperate need to do so!

Why cannot we have “Profiles in Courage” that will leave these politicians with a heroic reputation in history, instead of one of being a “lackey” to an unprincipled and totally immoral and unethical President, who does not give a damn about any of these politicians beyond “using” them for his aggrandizement?

The American democratic system of government is in dire danger, and needs men and women of principle and convictions, but at such a difficult moment, the nation faces a true domestic disaster in the making, that could have been avoided if only a few sacrificed their personal futures for a better present situation!

Trump’s War On Federal Government: Young Civil Servants, Higher Education, Veterans, And More! :(

Ronald 30 Comments

Donald Trump’s war on the federal government is an attack on the future and on so many other areas of life.

It is a war on young people who have and wish to enter public service, with many thousands of probationary workers now unemployed, due to major cutbacks in many federal agencies.

It is a war on higher education, cutting funding for training and educating an intelligent work force in the sciences, the humanities, and all other areas of public knowledge.

It is a war on our patriotic veterans, who are losing many government jobs, and a cutting of programs to help veterans who risked their lives, and now are being denied adequate consideration of their health and welfare needs.

It is a war on protection of our national security, with mass purges of dedicated intelligence, foreign policy, and defense personnel who have dedicated their lives and careers to protecting the homeland from foreign threats of authoritarian government, including Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran.

It is a war on health care, science, and medicine, and endangers all Americans when it comes to threats from many diseases worldwide, that now will not be dealt with in an efficient matter, and will cost a multitude of lives.

It is a war on the environment, conservation, and the realities of climate change, guaranteeing worldwide disasters that will threaten human existence in the future.

It is a war on our long held alliances with democracies in Europe and in Asia, and antagonizing, unnecessarily, our neighbors, Canada and Mexico, and inciting anti Americanism in Latin America. It is causing our closest allies in NATO and in Asia to reconsider sharing intelligence information.

It is a war on public virtue, with a certainty that we will witness the greatest level of corruption and concentration of wealth in the hands of a few evil individuals, ever seen in American history, far surpassing the earlier corruption that took place under Presidents Ulysses S. Grant, Warren G. Harding, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, and even the first term of Donald Trump.

The Trump Presidency is setting America back to an earlier time before all of the great reforms that took place from the Progressive Era of Theodore Roosvelt and Woodrow Wilson; the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt; the Fair Deal of Harry Truman; the New Frontier of John F. Kennedy; the Great Society of Lyndon B. Johnson; the movements forward under Republicans Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon; the accomplishments under Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton; and the advancements under Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.

Major Disaster In the Making, If Medicaid And Food Stamps Are Gutted By Congressional Republicans!

Ronald 34 Comments

President Lyndon B. Johnson, as part of the Great Society reforms of the mid 1960s, accomplished the passage of Medicaid and Food Stamps, two programs to help sustain the poor, seniors, the disabled, children, and pregnant women of all backgrounds.

A myth that is popular out there in the right wing fantasy world is that only minorities–African Americans and Latinos–benefit from these programs, and nothing could be further from the truth!

But even if that was so, should not America assist those of racial minorities who have not been given a “fair shake” in society?

But the reality is that the majority of those who benefit from Medicaid and Food Stamps are white Americans, many of them rural Americans, not just urban minorities, as the myth would have it.

A total of 72 million Americans depend on Medicaid, and 42 million on Food Stamps.

Should not the nation help poor and deprived people to be able to afford nutritional food, and should not the nation insure that health care is available, to prolong lives of those less fortunate and prosperous?

Should not those who call themselves “good Christians” support such programs, rather than give massive tax cuts to the super rich who do not need it, and already pay far too little to support the nation?

And these super rich Americans will not be harmed by paying more taxes, as their interest on their massive wealth makes up for whatever taxes they might pay!

So why cannot Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates and the multitude of others who have become super wealthy, be patriotic enough to contribute to the advancement of American society, and care about the poor, the disabled, the elderly, and other groups that struggle for survival every day?

Donald Trump and the Republican Party are heartless and selfish, and have no concern for the damage that is occurring, and this is insufferable and unacceptable!

June 27 Presidential Debate Most Important Ever Held!

admin 1 Comment

We are six days away from the most important Presidential debate in American history.

Presidential debates took place in 1960, and then every four years since 1976.

But none have mattered as much as the upcoming debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.

This is the first time two Presidents, with one being a former President trying to return to office, have competed for the Oval Office since 1892, when President Benjamin Harrison was challenged by former President Grover Cleveland, who went on to defeat him decisively, but with no debates in that era.

Why is this the most important Presidential debate ever in our history?

Because Donald Trump represents a dire threat to the American Constitution, the rule of law, American Democracy, and to world peace and stability.

Donald Trump is a threat to women, African Americans, all immigrant groups, Civil Liberties and Civil Rights, Health care, gun regulations, the environment, labor rights, federal government agencies, the federal judiciary, military stability, Intelligence Agencies, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, all other international organizations, the potential of nuclear war, and every other imaginable group or issue.

Trump had the most corrupt Presidency by far in American history, and the danger is that the people he brings in would wield tremendous power, and have evil intentions, much of which could occur even without his personal knowledge and support, even more so as his mind deteriorates, and he is manipulated by them.

Hooray! :) 14 Year Anniversary Of The Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare)!

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Celebrations are in order for the 14 year Anniversary of the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare), President Barack Obama’s greatest achievement, despite constant attempts of Republicans to destroy it over these years since 2010!

The Affordable Care Act now gives health coverage to 21 million Americans, and is a further extension of health care coverage beyond Medicare and Medicaid, all brought about due to Democratic Presidents, as well as Social Security!

It is not a perfect law, as nothing is, but far better than if these laws had never been passed.

And it is ironic that in 2017, it was a critic of the Affordable Care Act, Arizona Senator John McCain, who was the opponent of Barack Obama in the Presidential Election of 2008, who saved the legislation, and this just a year before his passing.

This anniversary is being celebrated by both President Obama and President Joe Biden, and everyone well knows that President Donald Trump tried so hard to destroy this legislation and coverage, and pledges to do so if he is returned to the Oval Office, along with threats against Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid being targeted yet once again by Republicans!

The South Of Slavery And Racial Segregation Now The South Of Denial Of Health Care And War On Women’s Rights!

Ronald Leave a comment

The American South, the area of slavery and racial segregation in its past, is once again demonstrating that it is the area of denial of civil and human rights.

In the past, it was the Democratic Party that worked to deny human rights and dignity.

Now it is the Republican Party, the party that had fought for civil and human rights in the mid 19th century.

A total switch which remains startling, but now the emphasis is on denying health care to millions of poor whites and minorities, and taking away the right of women to control their own bodies and reproductive life.

The Medicaid Program enacted into law by Lyndon B. Johnson in 1966 now is being denied to help the health and safety of poor Americans, most particularly in Texas and Florida, but throughout the American South, as well as other Republican controlled states.

The section of the nation that demands that all fetuses be born, no matter what condition they are in, or how the woman became pregnant, is only too willing to deny health care, which undermines and shortens the lives of their less fortunate constituents.

This is so mind boggling, and it is as if the American South is still fighting the Civil War a century and a half later, continuing to be lacking in humanity and common decency.

Ten States Refuse To Expand Medicaid, No Concern About Health Care For Millions!

Ronald Leave a comment

North Carolina just became, finally, the 40th state to expand Medicaid for its poorer, less fortunate citizens!

It is mind boggling that TEN states, mostly Southern, refuse to care about health care for millions of their populations combined.

These states are:

Florida
Texas
South Carolina
Georgia
Tennessee
Alabama
Mississippi
Wisconsin
Kansas
Wyoming

This needs to be emphasized for those states that are likely to have Republican Presidential contenders, including Florida (Ron DeSantis), Texas (Greg Abbott and Ted Cruz), and South Carolina (Nikki Haley, Tim Scott).

It is unconscionable that Republicans who are supposedly “pro life” on abortion have no concern about the lives of their poor constituents!

It is a crime against humanity, and should be rectified!