Veterans

Crises In The US Military: Sexual Violence, Suicide, And Poor Veterans Care

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The US military, said to be the best in the world, is reeling from three crises:

Widespread sexual violence, with the vast majority of victims being female, but also not a small number of males

The growing suicide rate among active military, as well as retired military, on the average of one nearly every 40-50 minutes around the clock.

Massive backlog in taking care of veterans benefits through the Department of Veterans Affairs.

These crises threaten the ability of the military to recruit people, and to give needed assistance to those already in the military, as well as those who have left the military and have physical and emotional needs that are not being met, from their experiences in the military.

Psychological depression has caused an alarming rate of suicides, and sometimes, other members of the family are victimized as well.

We have always been ready to send troops overseas, without a care for what that does to the troops, mostly young males and some females, who have no clue as to what they will face when in combat zones.

But we are never ready to meet their needs when they face crises while in the military, or when they separate from military duty.

This reality is unconscionable, and action must be taken to deal with these massive crises that undermine our ability to face the challenges of the world in the 21st century!

Terrorism Tax Essential To Deal With Threats To National Security!

Ronald 8 Comments

It is clear after the Boston Marathon tragedy that we will be dealing with the imminent threat of terrorism, whether external or internal, for many years, even decades.

At the same time, we have many who tell us we must cut Social Security and Medicare for the elderly, veterans, and the disabled. We are also told we cannot afford health care and education,. and that millions of Americans must be sacrificed on the altar of never raising taxes!

Well, it is time that those opposed to tax increases, in a nation with the lowest tax burden of any democracy in the world, start reconsidering.

So a proposal is to recognize the dangers that face us, and to see that we are engaged in a different kind of war, and in all wars except under George W. Bush, taxes went up to support the war.

So we need a “Terrorism Tax”, and it should be one percent on incomes under $25,000; two percent on incomes up to $50,000; three percent on incomes up to $100,000; four percent on incomes up to $250,000; five percent on incomes up to $1 million; and six percent on all income above $1 million, including unearned income!

The author knows he will be attacked for such a heinous suggestion as a “Terrorism Tax”, but our security and safety requires sacrifices from all of us, and those with higher income and assets should be expected to contribute more to the nation that has helped to give them opportunity to prosper!

As John F. Kennedy said in his Inaugural Address in 1961, all of us should share the responsibility of promoting our nation and advancing its agenda, that we cannot afford as citizens to sit on the sidelines and leave responsibility to others. Let us fulfill what Kennedy enunciated 52 years ago!

Obama Is Wrong To Compromise On Social Security And Medicare, But GOP Will Save Him With Their Obstinacy On Taxes!

Ronald 33 Comments

President Barack Obama is infuriating progressives and liberals and Democrats with his move to suggest cuts in Social Security benefits and Medicare, which will harm senior citizens and veterans and widows and the disabled.

Many forget that Social Security is fully funded for at lest 25 more years, and all that needs to be done is to tax all income, not just $112,000, the same as with Medicare which taxes all income. Raising the Social Security tax to all income will insure Social Security for the rest of the century! Cutting Cost of Living Allowances is immoral and reprehensible, when we allow corporations to gain government funding, which should never have happened at any time!

Medicare needs to insure that all will know that cost cutting should be on waste, overpricing, and fraud, but not on benefits to the elderly and the disabled.

A country that does not take care of its elderly, its disabled, its veterans, its poor, is a nation that has become morally and ethically corrupt!

But the Republican Party will save the day, because part of the deal that Obama is attempting will require increase in taxes on the wealthy and the corporations, and since they will never agree to any deal, it will take Obama and the nation off the hook!

Barack Obama And Veterans Day: A Great President On Veterans Issues

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Barack Obama may not have served in the military, becoming an adult during a time when military service by draft had ended, and instead choosing to become a community organizer, in many ways a domestic version of the Peace Corps.

Mitt Romney supported the war in Vietnam, but used his religious commitment to the Mormon Church to avoid service, and instead spent his entire life acquiring massive amounts of wealth, with no social commitment to anyone, and only using one term as Governor of Massachusetts as a tool to run for President, and become the ultimate “BOSS’, which has been his only goal in life other than materialism!

Barack Obama has been very respectful and supportive of the plight of veterans who have served in our various wars, and he has done so much for their needs when they return, and he is pledging again our total commitment to them in the future. with recognition of the reality that much needs to be done.

As we become aware that one out of four homeless people in this nation are veterans, and that many veterans are unemployed, it means that no stone shall be unturned to do what must be done to help these people who served with courage and determination.

There may be budget cuts coming, but not at the expense of veterans!

Seeing Barack Obama speak at Arlington National Cemetery right now is such an inspiring moment, and realizing that one of our heroes, Tammy Duckworth, who gave up both legs and one arm in Iraq, is now the Congresswoman Elect in an Illinois district, having soundly defeated one of the worst Tea Party elected Representatives of 2010, Joe Walsh, is a very exciting moment! And seeing Allen West of Florida, who abused his power in Iraq and was drummed out of the military, also leaving Congress in January, is a very satisfying event!

If Obama Loses, We Lose MUCH More Than He Loses!

Ronald 4 Comments

President Obama has made the statement that were he to lose the Presidential Election Of 2012, he and Michelle would do just fine, and that is certainly true.

After all, he has been President, will go down in history as a President who had some positive effects on the nation, and will be able to spend the rest of his life with great earnings potential, and rising popularity over time, and would be mourned when he dies, with a state funeral, and always be part of the story of American history.

Being a one term President, he would be likely to have a lower ranking in the list of Presidents, as Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush have had, along with William Howard Taft, Herbert Hoover, and Gerald Ford, the five Presidents of the 20th century who lost reelection.

Obama has had a record deserving of being listed higher, but he needs a second term to reach the ranks of the more outstanding Presidents.

But, ultimately, the biggest loser if Obama is not reelected, are:

Women–who will see their movement toward equality and dignity stalled or reversed in massive ways.

Gay men and women–who will likely lose the advancements on gay rights and gay marriage, and true equality in all ways.

Hispanics and Latinos–who will see more anti immigrant backlash, and will lose the advancements for young Immigrants under the proposed DREAM Act.

African Americans—who will see greater racism and discrimination, and setbacks in the promotion of equality and fairness of treatment.

Labor–who will see more attacks on workers rights, favoritism toward corporate employers, loss of collective bargaining rights, and setbacks in the lives of ordinary, struggling Americans who have no union representation.

Environmentalists–who will see more oil drilling, air pollution, refusal to understand the dangers of climate change, and allow economic development that endangers the health of millions of Americans, all for the motivation of profit over health concerns.

The poor–who have rough lives, will see a lack of concern or action to deal with the reality of child poverty, homelessness, hunger, the lives of single mothers, and further condemnation of the poor, reminding us of the Gilded Age and Social Darwinism.

The Middle Class–who will suffer further degradation, loss of opportunity to advance, and the potential for their children to succeed being lessened dramatically.

Young People–who will have fewer opportunities to advance in education and work, and will be embittered and disillusioned about the American Dream, which will be unfulfilled for millions.

Senior Citizens–who will have to live in fear of dangers to Social Security and Medicare, and will lose the sense of security and contentment in their older years.

The Disabled—whether young, middle aged, or old, who will see a loss of concern and support, as through Medicaid and other government programs.

Civil Libertarians–who will see further erosion of the Bill of Rights, and the promotion of narrow minded views of Muslims and Hispanics-Latinos by government policy.

The Peace activists–who will see America engaged in more wars, because of the power of Neoconservatives who will promote further foreign adventures.

Military Personnel and Veterans–who will see more soldiers killed in the future, and more ignoring of the needs of veterans who are fortunate enough to come home alive.

Educators and Intellectuals–who will be less appreciated and admired, and will be labeled “Communists, Socialists, Terrorists” by people in the Republican Party, who will do everything they can to attack education and freedom of thought, and call critics “unpatriotic”.

So Barack Obama will do just fine if he loses, but we, the American people, will lose so much, and it will transform our lives in so many negative ways that most people cannot conceptualize or imagine!

Indications That Senior Citizens And Veterans Are Switching To Support Of Barack Obama

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Recent polls indicate that two groups thought to be more likely to have majority support for Mitt Romney are instead switching to support of President Obama for the Presidential election in five weeks.

These are senior citizens and veterans, both of whom were seen as being considered part of the “47 percent” comments by Romney at a Boca Raton mansion last May, disparaging those who do not pay federal income taxes, although they pay lots of other taxes.

Usually, it has been thought that senior citizens were more likely to vote Republican, but the fear about changes in Medicare, represented by the plans of Vice Presidential nominee Paul Ryan, is steering older retired people to vote Democratic, even though the statements of Romney and Ryan are that only people under 55 and not yet on Medicare would be affected by the proposed voucher system. There is a growing feeling that one cannot trust Romney and Ryan on such an important issue.

Veterans often vote Republican, but the Obama record on veterans’ issues is drawing many former military people, as well as serving troops, to support of the Commander in Chief. And the fact that Romney evaded the Vietnam War draft as a Mormon missionary in the late 1960s, and that none of his sons have served in the military, work against veteran support of Romney.

This election could be path breaking in many ways, as far as majority voter support among groups thought to be more likely to vote Republican, but now seen as likely to support Barack Obama. It will be fascinating to see what transpires!

The Nerve And Gall Of Mitt Romney: Against The Principles Of The Declaration Of Independence!

Ronald 1 Comment

It has been a few days since Mitt Romney’s comments at a Boca Raton mansion leaked out, and the more one thinks about it, it makes one simmer and boil with rage!

Here is a man, and all of the wealthy “prima donnas” who gave $50,000 campaign contributions to hear him speak and answer questions, and what does Mitt Romney say?

That 47 percent of the population feels they are “entitled to food, housing and health care and whatever.”

The Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson, declared that there were certain basic natural rights of man–including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness!

So EVERY person in America, supposedly the most advanced nation in the world and a democracy, should be entitled to:

Food
Clothing
Shelter
Health Care
Some Joy and Contentment in their lives on a daily basis, and particularly when older

With all of the 47 percent paying some kind of taxes, and many of them being senior citizens, who have contributed to Social Security and Medicare all of their working lives; and many being veterans who have fought for their country; and with single mothers contributing children who will later be taxpayers; and with college students being educated to contribute taxes with their employment in the future—with all these realities—NO POLITICIAN and NO PARTY should tell the American people that they are not entitled to food, clothing, shelter, health care, and the ability to have some joy and contentment in their lives, at all times, but particularly when older!

The answer is for the American people to repudiate Romney and his Republican party, and stop allowing wealthy people to divide us by bringing up issues of race, religion, ethnicity, and sexual orientation to divide us—and also—keep religion out of government, and promote separation of church and state!

This is supposed to be a government OF, BY, and FOR the people, so let’s get to work!

The Growing Possibility Of An Electoral College Landslide For Barack Obama!

Ronald Leave a comment

With the “47 Percent” statement of Mitt Romney plaguing him, and causing many Republican candidates to repudiate his assertions, as an attempt to save their own skins, and with polls showing a growing lead for Obama in all of the “swing states” except North Carolina, some observers are starting to wonder if we are at the beginning of an electoral vote landslide in 46 days!

Barack Obama won 28 states in 2008, and is now favored to win all of them except Indiana and North Carolina, but both of those states are now seen as possibly going his way, as they did in 2008.

Additionally, four states—Missouri, Arizona, Montana and Georgia—are thought to be prime Democratic territory in future Presidential elections, as their mix of population favors them turning “blue”, but some wonder if they could be swayed by Romney’s statement–alienating young people, senior citizens, women, labor, veterans, and African American and Hispanic-Latino voters– to come out in droves and turn those states prematurely Democratic.

All this–the potential for 32 states and the District of Columbia to vote for Obama–has already been stated by this author as conceivable, if not likely.

But now, the thought even goes further, as a contribution by someone on this blog believes it is possible to have an even greater landslide, with the potential, in this person’s mind, for Obama to win 44 states as the 44th President, matching electoral landslides for Presidents including Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan!

This person feels only six states are safe for Romney–Alabama, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Utah, Wyoming and Idaho.

This author feels that this belief is too optimistic, and would add West Virginia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Arkansas, Nebraska , Kansas and Alaska to this list—making only 13 states truly safe now for Romney!

So this author would say that 37 states are possible–adding South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, North Dakota, and South Dakota to the potential list, due to the events of the Presidential campaign!

So were Obama to win all but the 13 states mentioned above, he would have a grand total of
462 electoral votes to 76 for Mitt Romney!

This is not likely, but it is possible, so stay tuned!

The Despicable Arrogance Of Mitt Romney And His Wealthy Boca Raton Supporters!

Ronald 2 Comments

Let this author start off by pointing out that he lives in Boca Raton, Florida, in the same zip code as the wealthy Republicans who live in gated communities, but lives in a “normal” middle class home without gates to keep out others!

He is personally embarrassed by the obscene gaudiness and arrogant attitude of multimillionaires who live in gated communities, and think they are better than the rest of us!

These are the people who mistreat the workers in supermarkets, drug stores, and all other local businesses, because, somehow they think their wealth makes them “entitled” to treat others not as fortunate as them, in an insulting, rude, demanding manner!

It is people like this who could sit in the home of a “privileged character” who could demand $50,000 campaign contribution from each participant, the average income of a family of four in America, and twice what many families earn in annual income!

They could sit there and listen to Mitt Romney say he did not care about 47 percent of the population, and the nerve of that 47 percent to think they were “entitled” to food, housing, and health care, and not one spoke up in opposition! Remember that the “47 percent” include veterans, senior citizens, single mothers and children, college students, minorities, and disabled people!

How low and disgraceful could any human being go in not giving a damn about their fellow human beings, and only be interested in the constant acquisition of wealth at the expense of others losing their jobs, their health care, and their homes!

How can these wealthy people look in the mirror each day and not feel that this is not the message of Jesus or Moses, to look down on fellow human beings, and just go ahead and exploit others for material gain without any conscience?

What has happened to America that wealthy people like these in Boca Raton, Florida, have so little concern about others, and can back a candidate who exudes selfishness, greed, and materialism in the most ugly fashion?

These wealthy people who met at a Boca Raton mansion should be ashamed of themselves, and if they claim, as many probably do, to be “religious”, they should meet the judgment of their deity in the afterlife with a strong punishment for their misbehavior on earth!

They have forgotten that the way one treats the “little people” in life, the ones who earn low income but do service for all of us in different ways, is the best judgment of one’s character, and on that test, all these Boca Raton millionaires fail miserably!

Republicans Starting To Panic In Congressional Races After Romney’s “47 Percent” Comments

Ronald 1 Comment

The effects of Mitt Romney’s “47 percent” comments, secretly taped in May at a fundraiser in Boca Raton, Florida, are starting to be seen in Congressional races throughout the nation.

Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown; Connecticut Senate candidate Linda McMahon and others are repudiating what he said, with Brown pointing out that his family needed “public assistance” when he was young.

South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, not on the ballot this year, was highly critical of Romney, and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said he wished to represent “all” people in his state, not just those who voted for him.

Conservative columnist Peggy Noonan in the Wall Street Journal and Bill Kristol in the Weekly Standard were very harsh on Romney, saying that veterans and senior citizens, part of the 47 percent who do not now pay federal income taxes, are part of the Romney supporters, and that Romney should be able to win with the difficult economic conditions in the nation, but is running a horrible campaign.

Polls in many Senate races show the Democrats likely to win some GOP seats and retain many of their own this November, even though two thirds of the seats coming up are presently held by Democrats, and it was thought that the Republicans would gain seats and the majority in the Senate.

Much more about the Senate races will be covered and analyzed by this author over the next few weeks, but Romney is, seemingly, self destructing, further proved when running mate Paul Ryan said Romney had been “inarticulate” in what he had said!