Social Security

76th Anniversary Of FDR Death, And His Impact On The Nation Continues!

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Franklin D. Roosevelt passed away on this date in 1945, being the last President to die of natural causes in office.

The debate about many actions and policies of FDR continue 76 years later, but there is no doubt that his impact on the nation was the greatest of any President other than Abraham Lincoln.

Right wing critics still condemn FDR in so many ways on domestic and foreign policy, even in 2021, but can one imagine what the nation and the world would have been like if FDR had never been President?

So much of America today is based on FDR and the New Deal, and even those elderly citizens who are right wing conservatives, are not about to repudiate Social Security, and they all benefited in so many ways from FDR policies in other ways that many may not be even aware of.

There are certainly plenty of issues and policies that even an FDR scholar, such as this author, can find fault with, particularly the Japanese American internment, and the issue of the Holocaust, but in FDR’s defense, he was faced with a myriad of issues and also health problems that it is hard to imagine any future President handling the circumstances at the time any differently.

Past Bipartisan Actions: Can This Happen Again As Joe Biden Hopes For, Or Is This A Mirage?

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In the past, despite political party conflict on beliefs and principles, we saw bipartisan actions and crossing party lines to accomplish major goals.

Here are four examples of such situations since World War II where a President of one party and a Congressional leader of the opposition party cooperated, and brought along other votes from their party to back the President of the opposition party.

When Democratic President Harry Truman was in office, and the Cold War with the Soviet Union was evolving, Truman was able to gain key Republican support from the Republican Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in the 80th Congress, Senator Arthur Vandenberg of Michigan, for the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan in 1947-1948.

When Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower was in office, he was able to work cooperatively with the Democratic leaders of both houses of Congress from 1955-1961 on many matters. Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn and Senate Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson, both from Texas, worked across the party lines in many situations, particularly on the first Civil Rights Acts (1957 and 1960) since Reconstruction after the Civil War.

When Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson was in office, he was able to gain support of Republican Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirksen of Illinois on gaining necessary support on the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and Medicare passage in 1965.

When Republican President Ronald Reagan was in office, he was able to come to an agreement with Democratic Speaker of the House Thomas “Tip” O’Neill to protect Social Security long term by a bipartisan agreement in 1983.

Since the 1990s and the hardline partisanship of the Republican Party and then Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich in the Republican Revolution of 1994, we have seen unwillingness by that party to have any willingness to cross party lines, and his early efforts were also pursued by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell right up to the present!

So President Elect Joe Biden’s publicly expressed hopes for bipartisan actions in these disastrous times to be accomplished, is it a mirage? We shall find out soon!

Kamala Harris Main Arguments To Use Against Mike Pence In VP Debate On Wednesday Evening

Ronald 1 Comment

Arguably the most important Vice Presidential debate since the first one in 1976 is taking place this Wednesday in Salt Lake City, Utah, when Vice President Mike Pence confronts California Senator Kamala Harris.

The possibility of a female Vice President in the next Presidential term heightens interest in this debate between a Vice President who has been unwilling to express his own views with his President, by every measure we have; and a Senator, who headed the Justice system of the state with one eighth of the American people residing, in California.

Kamala Harris needs to address major issues with Mike Pence, and if necessary, be persistent!

These include:

Why are you NOT asserting yourself in this COVID 19 crisis, and allowing Trump family members to run rampant over your responsibility to the nation to invoke the 25th Amendment?

Why are you not emphasizing masks, social distancing, and avoiding large rallies on your own part?

Why have you not condemned white nationalism groups, including QAnon and “Proud Boys”?

Why do you refuse to resist the policy of favoritism toward Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, and other dictators, and the worsening relations of the nation with NATO, Canada, Japan, and South Korea?

Why do you show no concern about the immediate loss of health care for 20 million or more people, especially in the midst of a world wide pandemic?

How do you explain all of the failures of Trump, including on;

the Mexico wall:

no health care alternative and plans to gut Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security;

the inhumane treatment of immigrant children and their parents at the border;

the widespread corruption of Trump Cabinet officers and others;

Trump’s failure to match Barack Obama’s economic recovery; Trump’s constant attacks on veterans, Muslims, the disabled, and those who have died, including John McCain, and lack of respect for Ruth Bader Ginsburg;

and so many other shortcomings?

Harris will perform very well, with compassion, concern, empathy, decency, ethics, morality and persistence in asserting herself, and this will make her an excellent and principled Vice President under a President Joe Biden, who has the same character traits as she does.

And if circumstance puts Kamala Harris into the Oval Office, the nation will be well served and be in competent hands!

Memo To American Jews Who Support Trump: You Are Overlooking History And Are Being Delusional!

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This author and blogger is proud of his Jewish heritage, and pleased that two out of three American Jews support the Democratic Party, which historically, since Franklin D. Roosevelt, stands for the basic values that all decent American Jews believe in: Tolerance, open mindedness, compassion, empathy, decency, social justice!

That does not mean that there have never been Republicans historically who one could find appealing, and even, at times, vote for and support.

But for any American Jew to support Donald Trump, who is a clear cut Fascist with strong tendencies toward Adolf Hitler, not just Benito Mussolini, is shocking beyond belief!

If one voted for Donald Trump as an “outsider” amid thoughts that a businessman with no government experience was worthy of being given a shot at leadership, and had unexplained hatred toward Hillary Clinton in 2016 to motivate you, that is one thing.

But after four years of Donald Trump, not as an outsider, but as the 45th President, and having witnessed what he has wrought, it is beyond understanding why any American Jew would vote for Trump again!

Some would say, oh the economy was going great under Trump, when the economy was already going great under Barack Obama, who took us from the Great Recession to the greatest economic recovery that we have seen in American history, including even Franklin D. Roosevelt before World War II came along!

All that Trump did is continue an economic recovery already in effect for a number of years. And that economic recovery was very uneven, with his push for a massive tax cut for the top one to two percent, which added to the national debt, and now threatens Social Security and Medicare! And 40 percent of the nation cannot afford an emergency $400 expense!

Some would say, oh Trump has done so much for Israel, in moving ahead to recognize Jerusalem as their capital; accept Israeli annexation of the Golan Heights from Syria; and promote diplomatic and other ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Israel and Bahrain, which only deepen the conflict over the future of Israel and the Palestinians. Realize that the leaders of those Arab nations are autocrats, corrupt to the core, and have no ethical basis at all toward their own population.

Any intelligent American Jew KNOWS that this is just a ploy for Benjamin Netanyahu to hold off accountability for his corruption, which has led to trial in Israel. It is also simply a way to manipulate that portion of American Jewry that Trump counts upon to help him win reelection, who think that whatever the Israeli government wants, should be supported by the United States.

But this ignores the fact that Barack Obama gave more aid and defense support to Israel through his promotion of the IRON DOME missile system, despite Netanyahu’s hostile attitude toward him, and his collaborating with Republicans on Capitol Hill, including Speaker of the House John Boehner against Obama!

But Donald Trump meanwhile consorts with antisemites and white supremacists, as at Charlottesville in 2017, but also other actions and utterances that incite violence against anyone who disagrees with his destruction of the US Constitution and rule of law! And remember that Richard Spencer, David Duke, and other extremist right wing antisemites love Donald Trump!

Donald Trump is a racist big time, if anyone looks at his history. He promoted racial discrimination in his Queens New York properties, and is infamous for his constant attack on “the Central Park Five”, five young minority men, accused of rape and assault, who he campaigned against, and has refused to admit he was wrong and apologize, when they were shown to be innocent and released after many years.

Donald Trump is a nativist, who has no issue with caging children at the border, a reminder of the early concentration camps which imprisoned Jews and other people, before the extermination concept was formulated in Nazi Germany!

He promotes anti immigrant hysteria, even though his mother was an immigrant, and two of his three wives were immigrants. And despite his close association with Muslim authoritarians, such as Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, he promotes Islamophobia, showing what a total demagogue and hypocrite he is, and his constant attacks on the few Muslim members of Congress!

Donald Trump is also a misogynist, who has abused dozens of women personally, and associates with others who have done the same, and has the gall to brag about it, but also has refused to provide evidence when charges are brought against him. He makes Bill Clinton look like a “choir boy” by comparison!

Donald Trump promotes hatred in his rallies, making people laugh as he ridicules opponents and makes fun of journalists who have been wounded by rubber bullets or tear gas, as he believes all media and all political opponents should be in prison! No other President has ever conducted himself in such a despicable manner! He is still pursuing his goal of putting Hillary Clinton, the Obamas, and Joe Biden in prison, all signs of an authoritarian demagogue!

Donald Trump rejects science, and is responsible for the mass loss of life in the COVID 19 Pandemic, and encourages his followers NOT to wear masks or practice social distancing, including at his rallies. At the same time, he thinks of his followers as “disgusting”, and calls veterans who have died in wars “suckers” and “losers”!

One might say that Donald Trump has a Jewish son in law, Jared Kushner; a Jewish Secretary of the Treasury, Steve Mnuchin; and a key Jewish adviser, Stephen Miller; along with others who work for him who are Jewish. But these Jews represent an extremely privileged class, who put their basic Jewish values aside for the gaining of power and obscene wealth!

Donald Trump has lied more than 20,000 times in office, and has had, by far, the most corrupt administration and number of corrupt appointees ever seen in any Presidency, so how can any respectable American Jew support this?

If Donald Trump is reelected, he will become ever more a threat to the basic Jewish values that matter, and any American Jew who contributes to that horror, will go down in history, condemned for their inaction when they could have taken steps to end the nightmare of an American version of Benito Mussolini at the least, and god forbid, Adolf Hitler at the most!

Best Strategy For Joe Biden: Emphasize Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Affordable Care Act, Under Attack By Donald Trump And Republicans, To Working Class And Senior Citizens

Ronald 10 Comments

There are many issues that need to be discussed and emphasized by Joe Biden and his running mate, and Democrats in general, during the upcoming Presidential and Congressional Election campaigns of 2020.

Certainly, these include the CoronaVirus Pandemic, the racial turmoil that has arisen anew since the George Floyd murder, and the economic Great Depression that have gained the most attention in these past six months.

Also, the need to discuss the issue of climate change and global warming, and the dangers to American foreign policy presented by Donald Trump’s reckless attacks on our intelligence agencies and foreign policy establishment, which has undermined our relations with our NATO allies and other democratic nations around the globe, must be discussed. Trump’s flirtation with authoritarian leaders, including Russia, China, North Korea, Turkey, Egypt, the Philippines, Brazil and elsewhere is also a major threat to global security.

But despite these and many other issues, ultimately, the major message that will gain more working class and senior citizen support is to emphasize what Democrats have supported, and have battled to preserve—programs passed by generations of Democrats, and widespread attacked by Republicans, and particularly Donald Trump in the last four years.

That is, the social justice programs that matter the most:

Social Security, passed under FDR in 1935, the lifeline for millions of people.

Medicare and Medicaid, passed under LBJ in 1965-1966, which has been a literal lifesaver for millions of Americans.

The Affordable Care Act or Obamacare, passed under Obama in 2010, and constantly under attack by Republicans who have no alternative plan, and which has been a blessing to thirty million Americans.

None of these programs were perfect or are perfect, but if left up to the Republicans of the past, and even more in the present, they would never have existed, or would have died over the years!

So Democrats need to emphasize this, that all these programs are scheduled for ultimate undermining and destruction, if, God forbid, Trump won a second term, and had a Republican controlled House of Representatives and Senate!

Explaining this reality to the working class and senior citizens is the best way to get them out to vote, not sit on the sidelines, or believe the lies and propaganda of the evil Republican Party!

The Importance Of Social Justice In American Democracy

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If an advanced modern nation, and one that strives to promote equal opportunity and advancement for all, fails to make social justice its key commitment for the future, then the nation has failed in its mission.

The battle in America is to strive to keep the advancements of social justice fought for over the century from the Progressive Era onward, but presently, we are seeing extremist right wing forces that wish to destroy the reforms and revert America back to the Gilded Age of the late 19th century.

If it was up to right wing forces, labor would have no bargaining rights; racial and ethnic minorities would return to a pattern of denial of their civil rights; women would come under the dominance of their husbands and of religious extremists who wish to deny them the right to control of their own destiny; basic social programs, such as Social Security, Medicare, and assistance to the disabled would be wiped out; and the wealthy would have no accountability to the nation that gave them the opportunity to prosper, and would use every trick possible to avoid paying a fair share of taxes, and would have no concern about the inequities of society, leading to a large portion of the population struggling to make ends meet.

So for a right wing propagandist to say that the Democratic Party is far left, when it is anything but that, is simply a sign of greed, selfishness, lack of compassion and empathy for those not born to wealth, or having unfair advantages in life without any accountability or conscience about the responsibility they owe to America.

The true danger in America is not a far left Democratic party, which does not really exist, but rather a far right, fascist oriented Republican Party, willing to sacrifice the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the rule of law, and obsessed with an obscene acquisition of wealth for the sake of self aggrandizement.

America Will Never Be A “Socialist” Country, But We Have “Socialist” Ideas Americans Want To Keep: Social Security, Medicare, Environmental, Labor, Consumer, Health Care, Education, And Civil Rights Laws, All Which Make Capitalism Work Better!

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Donald Trump attacked “Socialism” in the State of the Union address, knowing full well that is simply a code word to attack progressive reforms that have become part of the American tradition and system of social justice.

“Socialism” in America is Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Federal Environmental Laws, Federal Labor Laws, Federal Consumer Laws, Federal Health Care, Education and Civil Rights Laws.

These laws are the hard, years fought for, efforts of primarily Democrats and some moderate Republicans over the century since Theodore Roosevelt, including Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and even contributions of Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, George H. W. Bush, and innumerable Senators and Congressmen and state governors who saw these laws as essential for American advancement.

We are a nation of capitalism but with “socialism” mixed in, due to the promotion of such legislation by the Socialist Party of the 20th century, and its leaders, including Eugene Debs and Norman Thomas, and most Americans support and see the need for the laws we have.

We are not going to go back to the Gilded Age of the late 19th century, as the Progressive Era, the New Deal, the 1960s, and the Obama era have made our nation better, and the right wing attack on all these reforms will be fought bitterly and defeated!

Goodbye And Good Riddance To Speaker Of The House Paul Ryan: A Despicable Legacy Of Ayn Rand Worship And Obedience To Donald Trump

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Speaker of the House Paul Ryan will be leaving Congress, and the best way to look at it is: Goodbye and Good Riddance.

Ryan is a despicable legacy of Ayn Rand worship, whose goal in Congress, luckily unmet, was to wipe out the Social Welfare State of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal and Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society, along with other reforms brought about by other Presidents of both political parties.

Ryan seemed excited at the thought of ending Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, although he gained from Social Security when his father died when he was a child, but seemed unperturbed in denying those less fortunate, and poor mothers and children the idea of any government support in their plight.

A so called “good Catholic”, who actually was denounced by Catholic leaders for his hard hearted attitude toward the poor and sick, he was anti abortion but did not care what happened once a child was born.

Ryan also showed willingness to be obedient toward Donald Trump’s abuse of power, and he presided over a massive increase in the national debt by his promotion of massive tax cuts to the wealthy, and his party now has to own the great increase in the national debt that occurred under George W. Bush and Donald Trump, which he ignored, while being constantly critical of Barack Obama, and refusing to come up with an alternative to ObamaCare.

The thought that he could be a heartbeat away from the Presidency as the potential Vice President under Mitt Romney in the 2012 Presidential Campaign was horrifying, and this author denounced Ryan regularly at that time, and was bitterly attacked by the right wing in a vicious manner, but that did not intimidate me in calling him a disgraceful and despicable Republican leader.

To say that he was worse than the previous Speakers John Boehner and Dennis Hastert is quite a testimony to the disaster he represented as two heartbeats away from the Presidency while Speaker from 2015-2018.

He is being replaced by Democrat Nancy Pelosi, previously Speaker of the House from 2007-2011, the most productive years of any Speaker going back to the times of Thomas “Tip” O’Neill from 1977-1987.

The Ultimate Outcome Of The Midterm Elections Of 2018: The Social Welfare, Social Justice State Is Permanent After 83 Years

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The ultimate outcome of the Midterm Elections of 2018 is the success and institutionalization of the Social Welfare, Social Justice State, finally permanent after 83 years.

It all goes back to the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the passage of Social Security in 1935, bitterly fought by Republicans and conservatives of that era, and still argued about by such leaders as Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan over the next half century.

But in 1983, President Reagan and Democratic Speaker of the House Thomas “Tip” O’Neill negotiated a bipartisan deal to save Social Security, not destroy it as Reagan had wanted to do, and it is the fundamental part of the Social Safety Net.

In 1965, after years of opposition by Republicans and conservatives, Lyndon B. Johnson and his Great Society accomplished Medicare and Medicaid. It has continued to be attacked and condemned, but it has survived and is a great part of the Social Safety Net.

Then, in 2010, Barack Obama accomplished the Affordable Care Act or ObamaCare, with no cooperation from Republicans or conservatives, even though back in 1993, conservatives, with the support of Bob Dole and Newt Gingrich, came up with a very similar health care plan, in opposition to the Bill and Hillary Clinton health care plan, which ultimately failed of passage. Also, Mitt Romney in Massachusetts accomplished a very similar plan as ObamaCare, but ran against his own plan for the nation when he ran for President in 2012.

The Republicans continued to try to destroy ObamaCare ever since 2010, having 70 votes on it over the years, but Chief Justice Roberts and Senator John McCain in 2012 and 2017, respectively, backed continuation at crucial moments. Now, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has indicated that, clearly, ObamaCare is here to stay, so like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, ObamaCare has survived and become a permanent part of the Social Safety Net.

The Democrats and progressives have accomplished these great pieces of legislation since 1935, and the goal has always been to improve the laws, as no one ever said they were perfect, but it is the Democrats, not the Republicans who have advocated and succeeded in accomplishing the Social Welfare, Social Justice state, and they should be very proud of the work they have done.

So FDR, LBJ, and Obama are the three most successful domestic policy Presidents, and not just in the areas mentioned in this article!

The Facts About Barack Obama’s Achievements On The Economy , Corruption, And Health Care, As Compared To Donald Trump’s Record

Ronald 9 Comments

With the Midterm Elections of 2018 only ten days away, we are now in the season of lying about Barack Obama’s record by Republicans, who act as if the 44th President accomplished nothing while in office, and was an abject failure.

Somehow, the experts see it differently, as the C Span Poll of Historians in 2017 put Obama 12th of all Presidents, and the American Political Science Association poll of 2018 puts Obama as 8th among all Presidents.

Obama brought about the greatest economic revival from a economic collapse in US History, far better than Franklin D. Roosevelt and the ending of the Great Depression, only brought about ultimate entrance into World War II, while Obama brought about an end to the Great Recession without a major war. The stock market nearly tripled under him, and the unemployment rate went from 10 percent when George W. Bush left, to under 5 percent when Obama left office. But Donald Trump tries to claim that magic took place when he came into office, and that the present booming economy is all his doing, ignoring the recovery under his predecessor. It is clear that the economy’s improvement would have been much the same under Hillary Clinton had she won the Electoral College and become our President.

There was no corruption under Barack Obama of note, and no one was indicted or convicted, while the record of the George W. Bush administration had quite a lot of corruption, but already Donald Trump has seen more corruption in less than two years than Bush had in eight years. Trump’s cabinet and other advisers have demonstrated more corruption than any in American history. and so many people have been indicted or pleading guilty in the probe on Russian collusion.

Obama also promoted the protection of preexisting conditions under the Affordable Care Act or ObamaCare, which the Republicans have tried to destroy 70 times, although now all candidates for reelection are claiming otherwise, but a pure lie. Donald Trump has no concern about health care, and instead brags about the massive tax cut to the wealthy, which is leading to Republicans claiming that not only must ObamaCare be repealed, but also there is a need for massive cuts in Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

Trump supporters who believe any of the propaganda coming from Trump and Republicans running for reelection, are truly delusional, and fail to understand that the facts are very different from the myths being perpetrated by Republicans who hope to keep control of Congress after the elections in less than two weeks.