Social Safety Net

Spending, Debts, Federal Funds: The Utter Rank Hypocrisy Of Tea Party Republicans Out To Enrich Themselves At The Expense Of The American People!

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The Tea Party Republicans are masters in their rhetoric and their attempts to make the federal government the villain, and to demand spending cuts and condemn the growing of the national debt, in the process undermining faith in our government and putting vulnerable Americans at risk by destroying the social safety net and acting like economic terrorists by refusal to uphold the good faith and credit of the United States government, an action that could cause a second Great Depression and worldwide economic chaos as well!

But when one lifts the veneer of these Tea Party radicals, one discovers that there is utter rank hypocrisy, a few examples which will be discussed below.

First, we have Congresswoman Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, one of the leading candidates at this time for the Republican nomination for President, who refuses to support a raising of the debt ceiling and condemns federal programs and spending. And yet, her husband gains federal Medicare funds for his faith based counseling agency that supposedly helps gays to become straight! Also, federal agricultural subsidies are paid for their family farm, and also, the Bachmanns recently received a federally backed mortgage backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which the Congresswoman has condemned for bad borrowing practices and wishes to be disbanded. What utter rank hypocrisy, and apparently, Michele Bachmann is arrogant enough to think that the American people are fools and saps enough that either they will not find out, or that they will not grasp the unethical behavior of this woman who claims to have the credentials to be our President! It is clearly obvious that she is out simply to enrich herself at the expense of the American people, and has found a new way to manipulate and abuse the American taxpayer while claiming to be holier than thou!

Then we have freshman Tea party freshman Joe Walsh of Illinois, who has been gaining a lot of attention and notoriety for his outspokenness and arrogance as he promotes interviews with every news organization imaginable.

Joe Walsh loves to pontificate on the national debt, and refuses to support a raising of the debt, and yet this is a man who has NOT paid child support for his children to his former wife for many years! He is a “deadbeat Dad”, who has had his home put in foreclosure for failure to pay the mortgage, and considers himself a spokesman for others who have lost their homes. This is how he was able to get himself elected in his district by the small margin of 291 votes! But he himself has also spending and debt problems, having amassed a major credit card debt, so he is another example of being holier than thou, and a major hypocrite in so many ways! Of course, like Bachmann, Walsh can now exploit the taxpayer for his own ends, collecting a salary and benefits not available to 99 plus percent of the population, while pontificating on the evil federal government programs!

Other hypocrites include Senator Mike Lee of Utah, Congressman Tim Griffin of Arkansas, and Congressman Kevin Yoder of Kansas, all of whom have high balances on credit cards, while telling us we cannot have a raising of the national debt ceiling! Of course, they are all being enriched by a salary and benefits very few of us have, so they are talking the talk but not walking the walk and being responsible in their own personal financial behavior!

What utter rank hypocrisy by these Tea Party people, who are just ready to destroy the nation while lining their own pockets and demonstrating reckless behavior!

Keith Olbermann: Brilliant Statement About Progressivism And Meaning Of Life!

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Keith Olbermann, in his closing commentary last evening on his CURRENT channel show, truly expressed the argument for progressivism, and the true meaning of why we are here on earth.

Troubled by reports that President Obama seemed ready to sacrifice the social safety net of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid for a deal on the Debt Ceiling controversy that is raging right now in Washington, DC, Olbermann made it perfectly clear that such an eventuality would be a deal breaker for him and many progressives.

As Olbermann stated, the point of life, since we all die and eventually are only remembered by those who have been affected by our life on this earth, is to have concern about others, not just those we personally know.

Is life designed only to acquire wealth, fame, power and publicity, or is life meant to have an effect on other people’s lives?

Olbermann said that our impact on other people matters much more than the acquisition of wealth and power for its own sake, as it is what we do for others that will make us memorable after we are gone from this earth.

Therefore, to help the needy, the poor, the disadvantaged, is being the best we are capable of. To concern ourselves with our fellow human beings, not just our own selfish selves, is the point of life. To help eradicate poverty, suffering, and disease is the purpose of our existence.

Our common humanity is what should drive us in our daily lives, not just how we can become wealthier and more powerful, and to gain more publicity and a heightened ego.

What Olbermann stated is the true meaning of what it is to be a progressive or a liberal, and as the author listened to him, he had tears in his eyes as it really hit home that true evil is the concern only about oneself, and demonstrating selfishness, greed, and lack of concern of others. It is exactly what Christianity condemns, and yet there are so many “good Christians” who claim these as virtues, the height of hypocrisy!

Thank you, Keith Olbermann, for reminding us why we are progressives, and the pride I feel about my strongly held value system and beliefs!

Tax Day Is Here, And The Wealthy And Corporations Are Evading Taxes With Pride!

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As Tax Day arrives, the average middle class person is paying his or her taxes, and yet has no certainty that the social safety net is going to survive, thanks to the Republican Party and its intention to continue to cut taxes on the wealthy and corporations, as they have been advocating since Ronald Reagan’s time!

The tax system maximum under FDR was about 73 percent; under Eisenhower 91 percent; under Richard Nixon still about 50 percent; and under Bill Clinton close to 40 percent. But under George W. Bush, it has gone down to 35 percent, and Congressman Paul Ryan wants it to be 25 percent!

The result has been to produce the greatest stratification of wealth, greatest maldistribution of wealth, greatest inequities between the rich, the middle class and the poor in American history, in the midst of three foreign wars, and an aging population and massive social needs!

Meanwhile, the top corporations pay extremely low or no taxes at all, including General Electric and the major oil companies and banks, and many have overseas subsidiaries and operations. In so doing, they evade taxes, hire fewer American workers, charge higher prices to consumers, and give lower dividends and earnings on their investments to retirees. This country is run by the corporations, and the opposition party has no problem with that, since they gain large campaign contributions from these companies, as in the midterm Congressional elections of 2010, spurred on by the Citizens United case of the Supreme Court!

If the wealthy and the corporations do not learn that such inequities in society can lead to discontent and uprisings, then some day they may face the kind of violent change we are seeing elsewhere in the world. Exploitation can only go so far and then, regrettably, lead to dangerous scenarios that no one should wish for!

The Ideological Struggle Of American History: Laissez Faire Vs. Progressivism!

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As we begin the year 2011, the old ideological struggle between laissez faire economics and the progressive tradition is again involved in a great struggle over the future of America.

Laizzez faire celebrates individuality and risk taking, while progressivism promotes the idea of a person’s right to a minimum standard of living and a safety net of protections for all citizens.

So we have the new constitutional debate over the health care law, whether everyone in the United States is entitled to health care coverage. Conservatives regard any expansion of government protections as a threat to capitalism and freedom of choice.

But this battle has raged for a century and more in different ways, such as the following:

1. The 16th Amendment, the federal income tax, which became part of the Constitution in 1913, was called an attack on individual freedom and a threat to the American experiment.

2. Social Security in 1935 was called a plan to make the United States a copy of the Soviet Union.

3. The minimum wage and mandated overtime pay in 1938 were considered steps toward Communism, Marxism, Fascism and Nazism.

4. After Brown V. Board of Education started the modern civil rights movement in 1954, many thought that it would destroy the nation, was an abuse of judicial power, and was unconstitutional.

5. When Medicare was passed in 1965, it was considered unAmerican and a socialist attack on the American economy.  It was denounced by Ronald Reagan as taking away the freedom of the American people.

So passionate opposition has always followed every expansion of the social safety net or promotion of civil rights, but when one looks back, it is obvious that the laissez faire and conservative attacks are just hysteria and promotion of fear by those who don’t wish to promote the ultimate “American dream”, that all of us are entitled to basic human rights, not just the rich and the privileged who just want to deny those rights because it might make it necessary that they part with some of their self centered view of what America is all about!

It is seen as likely that after many constitutional challenges over the next two years, the Supreme Court will uphold the Health Care legislation passed last year, by a 5-4 or 6-3 vote, and in future years, many will look back and wonder why such tumult developed over what will be seen as a basic human right, the right to medical care for everyone–rich, middle class or poor in this nation!

Buyer’s Remorse: Second And Third Thoughts On Tax Deal Between Barack Obama And The GOP! :(

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The tax legislation negotiated between President Barack Obama and the Republican leadership this week has had much reaction from all sides of the political spectrum, and it has been a long week of serious reflection on the value of the arrangement.

Originally, the author called this a “Pearl Harbor” event, and then was swayed by many commentaries that called it a sign of bipartisanship, and switched his view to support.

Upon further reflection this weekend, and after a great discussion with my son David, who has worked on Capitol Hill or with people on Capitol Hill for the past four and a half years, I must now express what I call second and third thoughts on the agreement, and withdraw my support of the deal, sorry to say! 🙁

While bipartisanship is important as a concept, it is unrealistic to expect that there will be any truthful cooperation between the GOP in the House and the growing Republican minority in the Senate with President Obama.

What it comes down to is that the wealthy received a continuation of a tax cut which is what has created the tremendous national debt growth since 2001. What was the so called “Bush tax cuts” are now the “Obama tax cuts”! 🙁

While it is true that unemployment compensation was allowed to be extended for another 13 months, the reality is what will happen in a year when unemployment will still be very high, and the Republicans in the House will refuse to promote a bill that will extend it? 🙁

What will those millions of people, many of them middle aged or older, with little education, no money to do job training, already losing their homes, unable to support their families on minimum wage jobs if they could get them, be expected to do to survive? Are the Republicans going to give a damn what happens to these families, including single mothers with children, and not just minorities, but millions of whites as well, when they now argue that many people on unemployment compensation don’t want to work? 🙁

What about the reality that the so called “99ers” do not get any extension at all now, and apparently never will, and will be living on the streets, or in their cars if they are not dispossessed? What about the harm being done to millions of children who are victims of this economic mess? 🙁

Beyond the unemployment compensation issue, by lowering the Social Security tax by two percent for two years, the Social Security system is being harmed, and when Obama calls for a return to the original 6.2 percent tax for Social Security in 2012, the Republicans will call it a tax increase and work to prevent it, therefore undermining the whole social safety net that Social Security represents. 🙁

It is clear that if it is left up to the Republican Party, the social safety net represented by Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid will be destroyed over time, and that will make the country even more stratified, whereby by 2050, half the wealth of the nation will be in the hands of the top one percent, instead of the present 24 percent, brought about by the massive tax cuts to the wealthy since 2001! 🙁

Also, supposedly the government is committed to prevention of increase of the national debt, but has now agreed to legislation which will add nearly a trillion to the debt, which the GOP will blame on Obama in 2012.

So while Charles Krauthammer might say that Obama has improved his chances of winning a second term in 2012 by making this deal, the question is even if that were to be true, what is most important is NOT whether any person wins the Presidency in 2012 (although Obama would be the best choice available), but how it affects the welfare of the American people for the long term!

While obviously the liberal Democratic base cannot expect to win all that they want to occur, for Obama to have alienated them to the point that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid absented themselves from the signing ceremony for the tax deal, while Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was present, is disturbing!

Has Obama made a deal with the “devil” and turned against the “angels”? It could be that is the case! 🙁

Of course, some might say in refutation, that Obama wanted to avoid pain and suffering for the unemployed and for middle class taxpayers, but it seems more than ever that by what he agreed to, he may just have delayed the pain and suffering, and wounded the Social Security system and the social safety net to boot! 🙁

It may very well be that the long range effect may be more harmful than the short term gain, whatever it might be seen as being! 🙁