Poor Americans

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!

56th Anniversary Of Medicare And Medicaid: A Salute To Lyndon B. Johnson And The Great Society!

Ronald Leave a comment

The nation is celebrating the 56th Anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid, a time to salute President Lyndon B. Johnson and the Great Society of the 1960s.

It is impossible to imagine how much worse off this nation would be if Johnson had not used his powers of “Wheeling and Dealing” to accomplish the health care legislation which has saved millions of American lives in the past half century, and made the lives of the elderly, the disabled, and the poor far better.

Government is not there just for the wealthy to get tax breaks, but also to serve the needs of the American people, and it is soothing to know how much Medicare and Medicaid have changed the lives of the American people.

Along with Social Security, passed into law under Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal in 1935, Medicare and Medicaid have transformed lives over the decades, despite the naysayers, mostly conservatives and Republicans, who love to call these laws “Socialism”!

If these transformational legislative achievements are “Socialism”, so be it!

The Disgrace Of The US Senate: Republican Mismanagement And Corruption, Deserving Of Massive Repudiation By Voters In 2018 And 2020

Ronald 11 Comments

Norman Ornstein, Congressional scholar, political scientist and resident scholar of the conservative American Enterprise Institute in Washington, DC, has never said or published what most people who are employed by that interest group usually produce.

He has long been condemnatory of how the Congress has deteriorated in its approach to its responsibilities. He has been bitterly critical of the extremism that has taken over both the House of Representatives and US Senate. He is known for blistering critiques of Congress and how it operates.

It is a disgrace how both bodies of Congress operate, but the US Senate is particularly a train wreck under Republican control, promoting mismanagement and corruption, and now in the process of passing a disastrous tax bill that will make the wealthy wealthier, and harm everyone else, and add dramatically to the national debt.

Mitch McConnell and his party in the Senate, along with Paul Ryan and his party in the House, have abused their power, and are voting on legislation without full knowledge of what is in it, and changing details to please certain party members, without an understanding of the short and long range effect on the American economy.

The Republican Party has become the party of evil, deserving of massive repudiation by the voters in 2018 and 2020, but the question is whether those who vote for the Republican Party without a clue or knowledge of their agenda will finally understand that the voting for the GOP is a bargain with the devil, voting for people with no principles except their own self aggrandizement without conscience of what it is doing to millions of senior citizens, disabled and sick, and struggling middle class and poor people, in the name of greed and selfishness.

Trump’s Pledge To “Drain The Swamp”? Trump Has More Wall Street Corporate Types And Military Leaders Than Any President Since Eisenhower!

Ronald Leave a comment

Donald Trump pledged to “drain the swamp” of corporate people having influence on government, and this is the first of his pledges that has been totally ignored.

His Secretary of the Treasury (Steve Mnuchin); Secretary of Commerce (Wilbur Ross); Secretary of State (Rex Tillerson); and Chief Strategist (Stephen K. Bannon) are all from Wall Street or from a leading corporation in the case of Tillerson (Exxon Mobil).

Additionally, he has more military people, including those who are not retired for long, and require special legislative approval to serve—Secretary of Defense (James Mattis); Secretary of Homeland Security (John Kelly); and National Security Adviser (Michael Flynn).

So this is more than ever the “Military-Industrial Complex” that President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned against in his Farewell Address in January 1961.

This is a danger to American democracy, as the wealthy one percent not only dominate this administration, but also, more than ever, members of Congress, who are overall wealthier than any previous Congress in American history.

Where is the concern for the average middle class or poor American?