Minimum Wage

Paul Ryan Self Destructs Any Chance To Run For President!

Ronald 10 Comments

Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan, who this blogger spent a lot of time working to undermine his Vice Presidential candidacy in 2012, and got blasted for it by right wing websites and bloggers, has again shown further evidence of what a terrible choice Mitt Romney made in his Presidential race, in selecting Ryan to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency!

Ryan, who knows nothing about budgets, except that the poor, the elderly, the disabled, veterans, and the young should see cuts in Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Food Stamps, and other social programs; and there should be no extension of unemployment compensation for desperately unemployed people; and there should be no rise in the minimum wage, now has gone off the “deep end” with his assertion that those who live in the “inner cities” have no sense of the importance of work, and have not worked for generations!

This is a direct and racist assault on African Americans in particular, but also on Hispanics and Latinos, who are a majority of the poor in the urban areas of our nation.

But Ryan acts as if it is only minorities who are poor, and are unemployed, and in some cases, have not worked in a long time. From this statement, one would think that whites are not poor, that they all work, that they all have a heritage of understanding the point of work, and nothing could be further from the truth!

It is a fact, and always has been, that the vast majority of the poor do not live in cities, and are not minorities, although one would think so from a stereotype!

The fact is that there are millions of whites who live in the rural and suburban areas of the nation, and many are them do not work, have no hope of work, and live in depressed conditions often worse than urban slums. Many of these people are living in “Red” states, where Republicans vote to hurt their own constituents, while making it seem as if only minorities do not work, or have no work ethic. They live in Appalachia, the Great Plains, the Rockies, in comparatively sparsely populated areas, as compared to the urban areas on the East and West Coasts.

More whites receive food stamps, and the level of poverty percentage wise is higher in such places as Kentucky, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, and Alaska.

It is the lack of education; the tendency to have large families which are also dysfunctional; the reality of drugs and alcohol; the refusal of these state governments to give a damn about their white poor, along with minority poor; and the tendency to turn poor whites against poor minorities so that the GOP can keep power in the House and in the state legislatures, which is destroying generation after generation of deprived people of all races!

Only when there is a REAL war on poverty, instead of exploiting the issue based upon race, as Paul Ryan has now done, will we ever be able to guarantee a good future for millions of whites, as well as African Americans and Latinos!

And Paul Ryan, your potential Presidential candidacy is dead in the water, and while you might run, you have forfeited any realistic chance to be President of the United States, but that was clear, anyway, in 2012!

Conservatives, Republicans, The “Work Ethic”, And The “Big Lie” Technique!

Ronald 19 Comments

Conservatives and the Republican Party LOVE to promote the virtues of WORK, while at the same time, the Republicans in Congress have set up a work schedule which is far fewer days than when the Democrats controlled the House!

Conservatives and the Republican Party talk about work, but in their mind, their goal is to make people work more hours and years than is healthy for any human being, because by refusing to raise the minimum wage, cutting unemployment compensation to victims of the Great Recession, and cutting food stamps, and therefore, nutrition to women and children and the elderly, it forces people to take low wage jobs if they can get them, work two to three to four part time jobs, raising their chance of getting sick, and then, going into bankruptcy as a result. And the thought of EVER retiring or cutting back on work hours is a distant dream for millions of Americans being victimized by the greed and selfishness of the power elite!

The thought that people should have time for a real vacation; or to take off time for the family; or to start a new business or pursue education–all of these become impossible because conservatives and the GOP are out to exploit the American people, make the middle class poorer, and kick the poor around, including encouraging larger families than people can afford, by denying contraception and abortion, and instead, promoting government interference in the personal and private lives of all of us!

Meanwhile, the ruling class works less and less, gets more vacations, mistreats the people who serve their every whim, and look with disdain on the “slave labor” that they are promoting by their lack of compassion, empathy, and basic decency about those struggling to survive and have a little security and contentment, as that does not benefit the corporations and the top few percent who boss everyone else around and think they are working very hard!

This situation is very dangerous, almost a powder keg, as when finally the American people realize what is happening, it could lead to violent results, which would benefit absolutely no one!

And conservatives and the Republican Party utilizing the “Big Lie” technique about ObamaCare and everything else that has occurred under the Obama Presidency will eventually reverberate on them as well, when it is understood that they have been totally unconcerned about the American people, and the reaction will not be pretty!

The Most Despicable Act: Utah Elementary School Throws Out Lunches For Poor Children!

Ronald 49 Comments

So many outrages occur daily in this country in the past five years, all encouraged by the hardheartedness of the Republican Party, the conservative think tanks, the conservative talk show hosts, and the Tea Party Movement!

As each outrage occurs, one cannot help but become more frustrated, angry, furious, at “man’s inhumanity to man”, whether it be the 30 death threats daily against President Barack Obama; the cutting of unemployment compensation, food stamps, and refusal to raise the minimum wage one iota; the racial and ethnic hatred that continues to fester and boil over; the constant attack on the rights of women to their own bodies and dignity; the destruction of the middle class; the attack on labor rights; the vicious attacks by religious extremists on gay rights and same sex marriage; and a slew of other hateful, divisive, mean spirited statements and actions non stop!

But now a new low has been reached, hard to imagine that is possible!

Now we have a Salt Lake City, Utah elementary school, which has students whose parents are suffering from the long range effects of the Great Recession, and are behind in basic payments for school services of some kind. So their children, young kids under 10, are denied lunch, after it had been placed on trays for them, but then suddenly, the cafeteria manager takes the food away, because their parents are in arrears, and ends up throwing the food into the garbage, a total waste of taxpayers’ money!

How can ANYONE justify such an action, and the principal and the school board of Salt Lake City has refused to apologize directly to these unfortunate children, who are being sent a message that they are “garbage”, and are not worthy of being able to eat a meal with their friends and classmates?

Does one realize the psychological effect of such action on the psyches and self image of these children, who already live a more difficult life in poverty or deprivation, because of their parents’ unfortunate situation economically? It is as if there is no regard for human dignity, and everything is simply materialism, and if you do not have adequate money, to hell with you, and then throw out food that is not to be consumed by anyone else, and instead allow a child to go hungry!

But is this any different than the move to cut food stamps, when children of poor families are at least half of the recipients?

The cafeteria manager is on paid leave, but should be fired summarily, and the principal should be fired, and the school board should resign in disgrace!

And where is the Mormon Church, which dominates Utah politics and society, standing on this issue? They have been very silent, too busy fighting against gay rights and marriage, and forgetting that they were once victims of persecution and deprivation. But of course, now, the Mormon Church is a very well financed and prosperous group, that has lost the basis of its founding, nothing new, sadly, about organized religion, claiming to follow the teachings of its prophets, but doing just the opposite!

The Economy Improving Greatly, But Obama Gets Little Credit For It!

Ronald 1 Comment

The American economy is rapidly growing and improving, and the future is bright, except for the problem of unemployment. The auto industry is booming, as Obama saved the industry by giving them assistance in 2009-2010, and the expansion of the economy has also been benefited by three to four percent growth in the past two economic quarters. But one would get the impression that Barack Obama deserves no credit, when he deserves most of the credit for the improvements!

There is still the issue of refusal of the GOP House of Representatives to promote infrastructure spending, to raise the minimum wage to the level of inflation over the years, to continue the assistance to long term unemployed to avoid starvation and homelessness, and the need to push for education, as the future for the young, with proof that the more educated one is, the much lower the unemployment rate really is, and will continue to be. Also, lowering the debt for college students and graduates, as much as there are subsidies for corporations, would be a massive move in the right direction.

That is why it is essential for an end to the deadlock in the nation’s capital, and for action to be taken, but if not, the urgency of a Democratic Congress majority in both houses in November’s midterm elections is apparent!

The War On Poverty DId Not Fail! It Was Destroyed By Republicans, Led By Nixon And Reagan!

Ronald 2 Comments

50 years ago today, President Lyndon B. Johnson announced a War On Poverty In America, and poverty levels dropped about 40 percent over the next five years.

But then the conservative counterrevolution began under Richard Nixon, and was accelerated under Ronald Reagan, and today, poverty is spreading in the aftermath of the Great Recession.

And what is the Republican Party doing about this reality? It is declaring the War on Poverty failed, and doing everything to kick poor people and middle class people down into the gutter, fighting against extension of unemployment compensation to desperate people, having no problem in cutting food stamps to people who have inadequate nutrition, and fighting to avoid raising the minimum wage, which, if it was keyed to inflation, would be over $20 an hour right now!

The War On Poverty never got a full chance to succeed, as Democrats Hubert Humphrey, George McGovern, and Walter Mondale never had the opportunity to continue the mission of LBJ, and instead, selfishness, greed, and lack of compassion for those less fortunate, set in!

On this 50th anniversary, it is essential to recommit ourselves to dealing with poverty in America, realizing the majority of people in poverty are children, and also a majority are white, not minorities, which are used as an excuse to promote racial prejudice!

Unemployment Compensation : Earned, Not Handout, And Stimulates Economy!

Ronald 2 Comments

It is sickening beyond belief to see Republicans, conservatives, and libertarians such as Rand Paul, who seem to think unemployment compensation is a handout, a welfare program, when it is precisely NOT that at all!

People who gain unemployment compensation have had to work to gain it, have lost their jobs through no fault of their own, have to prove they are looking for work to gain it, and it prevents people from losing their home, their food supply, their heat in the winter, their medicines needed to survive.

It stimulates the economy, and provides jobs, and works against the tremendous mental and physical stress that unemployed people go through daily.

Anyone who would say that people stay on unemployment because they are lazy are despicable human beings, and realize unemployed people are not living off the “fruit of the vine”, so to speak, but instead are dealing with absolute basics of survival!

No one should EVER be in a position where, because of hard economic times, that they go homeless, have to go for food to food banks, have no way to get medical care, or to stay warm. And that includes children, the silent victims of their parents’ bad luck!

A country that would cut unemployment compensation for those who deserve it, who would take away food as basic sustenance for human beings, but spend tons of money on their pets as worthy of their expenditure while ignoring the hungry, and would say that the minimum wage should never rise, and put human beings into a never ending cycle of poverty, is a nation that has a deep mental illness!

We cannot allow selfish, self centered, hard hearted, so called “religious” people to dictate that others should do without, all to avoid paying taxes, when one is fortunate, and owes more to his nation than those less fortunate.

We are talking about basic humanity and compassion, not about giving “free” stuff to people. We are talking about the whole point of human existence, to care about thy fellow man and woman!

Eric Cantor Declares War On The Unemployed And Poor: Bad Omen For 2014!

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Republican House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, who salivates to become Speaker of the House when John Boehner finally leaves, which may be this year, continues to prove how disgusting and disgraceful he is!

The only Jewish Republican in Congress, Cantor has become an embarrassment to open minded, compassionate Jews, who are shocked at his callousness and lack of concern for the unemployed and the poor.

Being a leading supporter of cutting food stamps, and against ever raising the minimum wage, he now has made clear that any extension of unemployment benefits, after the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, is off the table, and that means, unless it is somehow overcome by Boehner calling a vote and willing to let the Democrats gain the majority of the total vote for extension, that millions of unfortunate Americans, who have worked hard all their lives, but have suffered from the Great Recession and its aftermath, shall be left in a situation with lack of food, inability to pay rent, unable to get medical aid when sick or injured, and with their children and senior citizen parents being truly deprived of basic needs! And yet, all workers have contributed to their unemployment compensation, and there is as much right to that as to Social Security and Medicare!

How can anyone with a conscience do this to fellow Americans? How can such people sleep at night? All this will do is increase the number of deaths of people unable to meet basic needs, and it also is an obvious threat that some desperate people will turn to violence to get basic needs met. There is no justification for violence, but it does not mean that it will not happen.

What makes Eric Cantor tick? He needs, desperately, a mental examination, as he is a man of mean spirit and lack of compassion, not native to the Jewish or any other religious spirit!

Ronald Reagan Myth Of “Welfare Queen” Being Revived By Republicans And Conservatives: Still A Massive Lie!

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Before he became President, Ronald Reagan kept perpetuating a massive lie, far more than Barack Obama and ObamaCare, despite claims that Obama is the most massive liar of any President!

NO, it is a tie between Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, with Reagan simply more charming and charismatic, so Nixon tends to be regarded as the greater liar because of Watergate!

But Reagan lied about Iran-Contra in 1986, claiming he had “no recollection”, and able to get away with it due to his charm, and the thought that, as an aging President, he would be given a pass, although some thought he should be impeached for that scandal, as well as others, making his administration one of the most scandal ridden Presidencies, right behind Nixon, Warren G. Harding, and Ulysses S. Grant.

But even before the scandals of his Presidency, Reagan developed in his mind, and came to believe, that there was a “Welfare Queen”, of course an African American in Chicago, who was collecting dozens of checks monthly, and scamming the “welfare” system.

This was a lie from day one, but it resonated, and was used by conservatives to condemn the poor, implying that they were all too lazy to work, and were just drinking and taking drugs and living off hard working whites.

The fact that most people on “welfare”, meaning food stamps and Medicaid and unemployment compensation are white, are single mothers with children, and many work, but make inadequate income working for minimum wage (such as at Walmart and McDonalds and such places like them), is ignored, and it has become an attack on the poor, as if they wish to be poor, and also provoke working class whites against minorities.

Meanwhile, as the move is on to cut food stamps and unemployment compensation, and in red states deny expansion of Medicaid, and also deny an increase in the minimum wage, the vast majority who are being harmed are white working class people who continue to vote Republican, not understanding that it is them who are being condemned by the term “Welfare Queen”.

The term “Welfare Queen” is a massive lie, and was a massive lie when Ronald Reagan used it to attain the Presidency! Reagan either knew it was a lie, or was too incompetent mentally to know that he was telling a lie that he had convinced himself was the truth. And this is a President to admire and emulate, as a great President, when he set out to harm those who were down and out for his own advancement? Give me a break!

Senator Rand Paul And The Unemployed

Ronald 3 Comments

Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, who has never experienced what it is to be poor, unemployed, deprived in any form, is advocating that those millions who have been unable to find work should be punished for that fact, and be cut off unemployment compensation, despite the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.

Paul points out that employers are more likely to hire people out of work for four weeks than 99 weeks! That in itself is disgraceful discrimination, blaming the unemployed for what the wealthy on Wall Street did to us, in cooperation with the administration of a Republican Congress and President in the early 2000s, leading to the Great Recession.

So these unfortunate souls should lose their last lifeline, and go homeless and starve, as “tough love” is the so called “answer” for those down and out.

And of course, the dropping of unemployment compensation is teamed with massive cuts in food stamps, and refusal to consider an increase in the minimum wage, which, if it had kept up with the cost of living since 1968, would now be over $21 an hour.

So kick the disadvantaged when they are down, Rand Paul, heh? And this is the “Christian’ spirit? What is wrong with you and your disgraceful colleagues?

Lowest Unemployment Rate In Five Years: A Big Plus For The Democrats In 2014 Midterm Elections!

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There has been steady growth of employment over the past four and a half years, and the new employment report shows that the unemployment rate, now 7 percent, is at its lowest in five years! Over 203,000 jobs were created, more than was expected. This is bound to help the Democrats in the 2014 midterm elections coming up next November.

This is great news, although there is much to do for those still unemployed, and for those with minimum wages in an economy where the remnants of the Great Recession still lurk.

It is essential that public works jobs be created to rebuild the infrastructure of this nation, and that the minimum wage be raised, so that it is worth at least what it was thirty years ago, now down by more than 30 percent in purchasing power.

But since almost one third of all minimum wage workers are parents, and there are so many single mothers with children who work at such places, and including Walmart and McDonalds and other such establishments, it is unconscionable to have these workers have to depend on food stamps and Medicaid, when their companies should be responsible for a living wage. Taxpayers are paying the price, when it would be better that consumers possibly pay more at these companies, but the workers know their employers care about them and their ability to survive!

And the argument that raising the minimum wage will cut jobs is pure bull, as that has not happened in the past!

And if consumers must pay a dollar more for fast food, or items at Walmart or McDonalds, so be it, as everyone, no matter what his or her station in life, is entitled to a living wage, and human dignity and respect!