Saturday, October 29, 2011
Strange Bedfellows: Militias Exercise Their Second Amendment Rights To Protect Occupy Phoenix! | Addicting Info
Strange Bedfellows: Militias Exercise Their Second Amendment Rights To Protect Occupy Phoenix! | Addicting Info
By Justin "Filthy Liberal Scum" Rosario
From Merriam-Webster.com:
Once upon a time, Right Wing outfits like Fox News and all of AM radio stoked the fears of conservatives that liberals were going to “take over” the country and put them all in “re-education camps.” Militias spread across the country like wildfire, suspicious of a “liberal” government that, so they were told, was poised to strip away all their rights at gunpoint.
It got so bad that wingnuts started showing up at conservative rallies openly carrying their guns in states where it was legal to do so. Of course, the Right Wing media celebrated this expression of their fundamental right to bear arms because it was directed against the Obama administration which has done exactly nothing to warrant these fears.
Oh, how times have changed!
The whole point of the militia movement was to defend the people against gross violations by the government of peoples’ constitutional rights. For instance, suppressing peoples’ First Amendment right to peacefully protest with pepper spray, beatings, tear gas and flashbang grenades.
These are not liberals by any stretch of the imagination. The armed citizen, J.T. is, in fact, a neo-nazi. While one can assume he finds hippes and liberals…distasteful, he still makes a point of stating that he doesn’t even need to agree with the protest; they still have the right to be there without being assaulted by, yup, the government.
This has to be an extremely distressing development for the Right Wing fear mongers that have taken great pains to sow paranoid distrust among certain elements of the Right. If you condition people to fear the government taking away their freedoms, it shouldn’t be particularly shocking when they respond to that very thing. This is, literally, the kind of violent suppression of civil rights that militias have feared for decades.
By Justin "Filthy Liberal Scum" Rosario
From Merriam-Webster.com:
Irony: Incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result.
Once upon a time, Right Wing outfits like Fox News and all of AM radio stoked the fears of conservatives that liberals were going to “take over” the country and put them all in “re-education camps.” Militias spread across the country like wildfire, suspicious of a “liberal” government that, so they were told, was poised to strip away all their rights at gunpoint.
It got so bad that wingnuts started showing up at conservative rallies openly carrying their guns in states where it was legal to do so. Of course, the Right Wing media celebrated this expression of their fundamental right to bear arms because it was directed against the Obama administration which has done exactly nothing to warrant these fears.
Oh, how times have changed!
The whole point of the militia movement was to defend the people against gross violations by the government of peoples’ constitutional rights. For instance, suppressing peoples’ First Amendment right to peacefully protest with pepper spray, beatings, tear gas and flashbang grenades.
These are not liberals by any stretch of the imagination. The armed citizen, J.T. is, in fact, a neo-nazi. While one can assume he finds hippes and liberals…distasteful, he still makes a point of stating that he doesn’t even need to agree with the protest; they still have the right to be there without being assaulted by, yup, the government.
This has to be an extremely distressing development for the Right Wing fear mongers that have taken great pains to sow paranoid distrust among certain elements of the Right. If you condition people to fear the government taking away their freedoms, it shouldn’t be particularly shocking when they respond to that very thing. This is, literally, the kind of violent suppression of civil rights that militias have feared for decades.
Daily Kos: Boehner looks for deeper Medicaid cuts, ignoring Medicaid realities
Daily Kos: Boehner looks for deeper Medicaid cuts, ignoring Medicaid realities
House Speaker John Boehner, representing his caucus, wants to gut Medicaid.
Boehner on Thursday criticized the $1.3 trillion figure for new taxes as too high and the $500 billion in health care savings as too low.
Read More Here
The Democratic plan would cut as much as $500 billion from Medicare, Medicaid and other health programs and would raise taxes by $1.3 trillion; the proposal also would include $300 billion in stimulative measures.
Boehner on Thursday criticized the $1.3 trillion figure for new taxes as too high and the $500 billion in health care savings as too low.
"When you look at the Medicaid number that I've read about, some $50 billion worth of changes—let's understand, over the next 10 years we're going to $10 trillion on Medicaid," he said. "I just think there's a lot more room there to help find common ground."
Read More Here
Corporate greed needs to be stopped; vote 'no' on Issue 2 | Zanesville Times Recorder | zanesvilletimesrecorder.com
Corporate greed needs to be stopped; vote 'no' on Issue 2 | Zanesville Times Recorder | zanesvilletimesrecorder.com
When it comes to Issue 2, I am voting "no" and encouraging others to do the same. I support those who will look me in the face and tell me the truth about Senate Bill 5: our public workers. I will not support politicians who make closed-door deals by locking out hard-working public employees and nonprofit organizations, such as Build A Better Ohio, that will not disclose its huge corporate donors. Read More Here
Friday, October 28, 2011
Thirty Years of Unleashed Greed | Truthout
Thirty Years of Unleashed Greed | Truthout
by: Robert Scheer, Truthdig | Op-Ed
It is class warfare.
It was not begun, however, by the tear-gassed, rain-soaked protesters asserting their constitutionally guaranteed right of peaceful assembly. Rather, this war was sparked by the financial overlords who control all of the major levers of power in what passes for our democracy. It is they who subverted the American ideal of a nation of stakeholders in control of their economic and political destiny. Read More Here
It is class warfare.
It was not begun, however, by the tear-gassed, rain-soaked protesters asserting their constitutionally guaranteed right of peaceful assembly. Rather, this war was sparked by the financial overlords who control all of the major levers of power in what passes for our democracy. It is they who subverted the American ideal of a nation of stakeholders in control of their economic and political destiny. Read More Here
Fraudulent Defense Contractors Paid $1 Trillion - Newsroom: Bernie Sanders - U.S. Senator for Vermont
Fraudulent Defense Contractors Paid $1 Trillion - Newsroom: Bernie Sanders - U.S. Senator for Vermont
WASHINGTON, Oct. 20 - Hundreds of defense contractors that defrauded the U.S. military received more than $1.1 trillion in Pentagon contracts during the past decade, according to a Department of Defense report prepared for Sen. Bernie Sanders Read More Here
Thursday, October 27, 2011
REPORT: House GOP’s ‘Job Creating’ Spending Cuts Destroyed 370,000 Jobs
REPORT: House GOP’s ‘Job Creating’ Spending Cuts Destroyed 370,000 Jobs: House Republicans took the government to the brink of shutdown last spring by demanding across-the-board budget cuts to many vital programs. Instead of focusing on job creation, as Americans wanted them to, the GOP turned its attention to slashing funds for programs that funded assistance for women and children, local law enforcement, the social safety [...]/Read More Here
William Niskansen, RIP
The Book of Cletis: Not My Problem by Daniel Berry
The Book of Cletis: Not My Problem by Daniel Berry
Last week, the Obama administration dropped the long term care component of the Affordable Healthcare Act. They determined that it could not be enacted as a voluntary program and still reduce the long term deficit. Of course, Republicans in congress were absolutely giddy. Finally, they had a tangible victory in their fight to repeal Obamacare. Read More Here
Occupying the Rust Belt: In Three Deindustrialized Cities, Protesters Find Friendly Cops, Determination and Despair | Occupy Wall Street | AlterNet
Occupying the Rust Belt: In Three Deindustrialized Cities, Protesters Find Friendly Cops, Determination and Despair | Occupy Wall Street | AlterNet
Americans here are beaten down. But in occupations around the country they have found a space where they can speak of their struggles, burdens and aspirations.
The surefire method to find occupations in small cities is to head for the center of town. After leaving Philadelphia on our Occupy America tour, we drive an hour north to Allentown. Pennsylvania’s third-largest city at 118,000 residents, Allentown has been weathered by years of deindustrialization in the steel, cement and textile industries that once made it an economic powerhouse. Read More Here
The surefire method to find occupations in small cities is to head for the center of town. After leaving Philadelphia on our Occupy America tour, we drive an hour north to Allentown. Pennsylvania’s third-largest city at 118,000 residents, Allentown has been weathered by years of deindustrialization in the steel, cement and textile industries that once made it an economic powerhouse. Read More Here
Ohio's Union Fight: Cash Warfare | Mother Jones
Ohio's Union Fight: Cash Warfare | Mother Jones
A torrent of cash—some of it anonymous—is gushing into Ohio as the fight over Gov. John Kasich's anti-union bill reaches a fever pitch.
—By Andy Kroll
Judgment day is just around the corner for Ohio Gov. John Kasich's anti-union bill. On November 8, Ohioans will vote on whether to repeal Kasich's SB 5 legislation, which slashes collective-bargaining rights for more than 350,000 public employees. A slew of independent advocacy groups are already barraging voters with pro- and anti-SB 5 messaging, pumping millions of dollars into TV ads, mailers, lawn signs, door hangers, town halls, and more. Read More Here
—By Andy Kroll
Judgment day is just around the corner for Ohio Gov. John Kasich's anti-union bill. On November 8, Ohioans will vote on whether to repeal Kasich's SB 5 legislation, which slashes collective-bargaining rights for more than 350,000 public employees. A slew of independent advocacy groups are already barraging voters with pro- and anti-SB 5 messaging, pumping millions of dollars into TV ads, mailers, lawn signs, door hangers, town halls, and more. Read More Here
Daily Kos: Issue 2: Ohio Republicans shocked voters don't support union-busting
Daily Kos: Issue 2: Ohio Republicans shocked voters don't support union-busting
Two polls in a row have shown that a strong majority of Ohio voters want to see Senate Bill 5, the law that would strip public workers of collective bargaining rights, repealed. ButBuilding a Better Ohio, the group that made a deceptive ad using footage of one of their opponents, is questioning the results of Tuesday's Quinnipiac poll. The Columbus Dispatch reports: Read More Here
h/t Adrienne
Daily Kos: Radical Republican SB5 (Ohio Issue 2) is Heading for Repeal - Quinnipiac Poll
Daily Kos: Radical Republican SB5 (Ohio Issue 2) is Heading for Repeal - Quinnipiac Poll
This will be a short diary which only reports a bit on the Ohio effort to overturn, or exercize the People's Veto over Ohio SB5, an ALEC inspired attempt to break public employee unions, demonize public employees, most particularly school teachers, fire fighters and EMT's, and police officers. The backers for the side to retain the law have raised a firestorm with GrannyGate, an ad which twists the words of 78 year old Marlene Quinn, who was featured in a Repeal SB5 ad concerning fire fighters who saved the life of her great grandaughter Zoey, and made it appear that she supported SB5. Marlene was far tougher than the radical republicans imagined she might be, and with the help of the repeal group, We Are Ohio, made all of Ohio, and indeed, most of America know that the radical republican support group "Building a Better Ohio" just how unprincipled radical republicans can be. Read More Here
h/t Adrienne
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Seeking an End to U.S. "too big to Jail" excuses
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
"Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it, no court can even do much to help it.""If we are to keep democracy, there must be a commandment: Thou shalt not ration justice.""In the end it is worse to surpress dissent than run the risk of heresy"'....but it has generally proved impossible to smother them: and when it has not, the society that has succeeded has always declined."Judge Learned Hand, 1872-1961
h/t Clemans for the quote
CBO: Income Of The Top 1 Percent Exploded Over The Last Three Decades
CBO: Income Of The Top 1 Percent Exploded Over The Last Three Decades: The Congressional Budget Office today released a new report on the growth in income that’s occurred in the U.S. over the last three decades. CBO found that, “for the 1 percent of the population with the highest income, average real after-tax household income grew by 275 percent between 1979 and 2007,” while it grew by [...]/ Read more here
Why do corporations have unlimited free speech and citizens do not?--Motivated in Ohio
A few months ago, I watched in horror as the Egyptian Government attacked the peaceful protesters in Tahrir Square and the Egyptian Media made up lies against the protesters. My thoughts were how could a government attack their own citizens for simply wanting to give voice to their discontent.
Yesterday, in Oakland, California the same thing happened in this country. Police, in full riot gear, used tear gas and shot bean bags at the protesters. There were a few children in the crowd. I am enraged that this is happening in America. Why do corporations have unlimited free speech in this country, but citizens do not? Why do we have two systems of justice; one for the influential and well off and another for everyone else?
Yesterday, in Oakland, California the same thing happened in this country. Police, in full riot gear, used tear gas and shot bean bags at the protesters. There were a few children in the crowd. I am enraged that this is happening in America. Why do corporations have unlimited free speech in this country, but citizens do not? Why do we have two systems of justice; one for the influential and well off and another for everyone else?
Debate Overview: Yes or No on Issue 2?
h/t Adrienne
While Ohio does have budget problems, Gov. Strickland worked with the Unions. Gov. Kasich doesn't seem to want to work with them. Just to be clear, Gov. Kasich was V.P. of Lehman brothers when it went down, and was instrumental in persuading two of the state's pensions to invest in Lehman Brother's.
While Ohio does have budget problems, Gov. Strickland worked with the Unions. Gov. Kasich doesn't seem to want to work with them. Just to be clear, Gov. Kasich was V.P. of Lehman brothers when it went down, and was instrumental in persuading two of the state's pensions to invest in Lehman Brother's.
Take America back to what/where | OhioDaily
An interesting e-mail | OhioDaily
"Folks: Lets keep a copy in our pockets for quick reference when speaking with, and sending out emails ... 'friends' on the other side. Now, since Obama's regime, all of a sudden, folks have gotten mad, and want to take AmericaBack...BACK TO WHAT/WHERE is my question?????
After The 8 Years Of The Bush/Cheney Disaster, Now You Get Mad? Read More Here
"Folks: Lets keep a copy in our pockets for quick reference when speaking with, and sending out emails ... 'friends' on the other side. Now, since Obama's regime, all of a sudden, folks have gotten mad, and want to take AmericaBack...BACK TO WHAT/WHERE is my question?????
After The 8 Years Of The Bush/Cheney Disaster, Now You Get Mad? Read More Here
h/t Adrienne
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
VIDEO: The 9 Craziest Things Herman Cain Has Ever Said
VIDEO: The 9 Craziest Things Herman Cain Has Ever Said: According to the new CBS News/New York Times poll, Herman Cain remains on top of the GOP field, capturing 25 percent of Republican primary voters, with Mitt Romney winning 21 percent. With his arrival at the forefront of the race for the Republican nomination for president, it’s important to reiterate that the former pizza executive [...]/ Read more here
Bernie Sanders' war on the banks - Bernie Sanders - Salon.com
Bernie Sanders' war on the banks - Bernie Sanders - Salon.com
The Occupy Wall Street movement has been accused of being politically incoherent and leaderless, but among its many salutary effects is something that previously existed only in Rush Limbaugh’s worst, oxycodone-detox nightmare: OWS is making an American socialist politician look mainstream. Read More Here
Daily Kos: OH-09: Joe the Plumber defends the Air Force (but he's still not a plumber)
Daily Kos: OH-09: Joe the Plumber defends the Air Force (but he's still not a plumber)
It seems that Joe the Plumber, a.k.a. Sam Wurzelbacher, isn't going to take insults about his military service lying down. After it was announced that he had formed a campaign committee and filed for candidacy in Ohio's Ninth District, Rep. Marcy Kaptur's spokesman scoffed: Read More Here
h/t Adrienne
Daily Kos: Eldery Tennessee voter can't register to vote because she can't stand in line
Daily Kos: Eldery Tennessee voter can't register to vote because she can't stand in line
Remember the story of Dorothy Cooper, the 96-year-old Tennessee woman who's only missed one election in her life, but now can't get an ID that would allow her to vote? Tennessee recently passed a new law to keep people like Cooper from voting, requiring often difficult to obtain photo IDs. Cooper couldn't get hers because she doesn't have a marriage certificate, despite having "a rent receipt, a copy of her lease, her voter registration card and her birth certificate." Read More Here
h/t Adrienne
Daily Kos: Ohio's public workers have made $1 billion in concessions since 2008
Daily Kos: Ohio's public workers have made $1 billion in concessions since 2008
A new report sponsored by Protecting Ohio's Protectors, a coalition of unions representing Ohio police and firefighters,details (PDF) how Ohio public employees have agreed to more than $1 billion in concessions over the past three years. Those agreements were reached through collective bargaining, of course, a right that Ohio Republicans are trying to strip from public workers through Senate Bill 5, which will be on the ballot in November as Issue 2. Read More Here
h/t Adrienne
Daily Kos: "All About ALEC" - 10/22/2011
Daily Kos: "All About ALEC" - 10/22/2011
What a topic! What a program!! What a day!!!
"All About ALEC" was a one-day forum held on 10/22/2011 in Fitchberg, WI, hosted by the Oregon (WI) Area Progressives. Moderated by John Nichols, Washington correspondent for The Nation magazine, speakers included U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (IL), WI Rep. Mark Pocan, and WI Sen. Mark Miller, as well as Lisa Graves of the Center for Media and Democracy (publisher ofAlecExposed.org) and representatives of other organizations recognizing the dangers of ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council). Read More Here
What a topic! What a program!! What a day!!!
"All About ALEC" was a one-day forum held on 10/22/2011 in Fitchberg, WI, hosted by the Oregon (WI) Area Progressives. Moderated by John Nichols, Washington correspondent for The Nation magazine, speakers included U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (IL), WI Rep. Mark Pocan, and WI Sen. Mark Miller, as well as Lisa Graves of the Center for Media and Democracy (publisher ofAlecExposed.org) and representatives of other organizations recognizing the dangers of ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council). Read More Here
h/t Adrienne
Letter To The Editor: Businesses Against Issue 2 - ProgressOhio
Letter to the Editor from Katzinger's owner Diane Warren in Business First of Columbus on why state Issue 2 is bad for small business. Read More Here
h/t Adrienne
Monday, October 24, 2011
'Anonymous' Busts Child Porn Ring | News & Opinion | PCMag.com
'Anonymous' Busts Child Porn Ring | News & Opinion | PCMag.com
Hacker group Anonymous briefly crashed a large collection of child pornography Web sites, and published the names of its patrons.
Last week, the cyber vigilantes, better known for targeting large corporations and oppressive government regimes, used a brute force attack to infiltrate a server called Freedom Hosting, which housed about 40 child porn sites. The biggest site was Lolita City, which contained more than 100GB of content. Read More Here
Hacker group Anonymous briefly crashed a large collection of child pornography Web sites, and published the names of its patrons.
Last week, the cyber vigilantes, better known for targeting large corporations and oppressive government regimes, used a brute force attack to infiltrate a server called Freedom Hosting, which housed about 40 child porn sites. The biggest site was Lolita City, which contained more than 100GB of content. Read More Here
Response to a television station airing pro issue 2--Adrienne
They are lying in this ad. Why are you still showing it? I guess freedom of speech meander the freedom to lie about our public employees.
Shame on you.
I saw this during your six o'clock news.
Guess you are on the side of Build a Better Ohio (for the 1% ONLY).
Don’t Blame the Young | FrumForum
Don’t Blame the Young | FrumForum
[I don't usually link to conservative sites, but this is worth reading.--MIO]
Ohio is #2 in nation (in job losses)--Plunderbund
Ohio is #2 in nation (in job losses)
In all the news about Governor Kasich’s attempt to mitigate the political damage caused by the tragedy in Zanesville by issuing a meaningless executive order that most have concluded has no real teeth, another potentially difficult story got overlooked: September’s jobs report. Read More Here
In all the news about Governor Kasich’s attempt to mitigate the political damage caused by the tragedy in Zanesville by issuing a meaningless executive order that most have concluded has no real teeth, another potentially difficult story got overlooked: September’s jobs report. Read More Here
British MP Investigating News Corp Weighs In On Alleged Hacking In U.S.
British MP Investigating News Corp Weighs In On Alleged Hacking In U.S.: Think Progress filed this story from Los Angeles, California. Today, a British parliamentary commission announced that it will summon James Murdoch for a second time to question him about News Corp.’s phone-hacking scandal. So far, the British inquiry has not yet initiated similar investigations in the United States. In September, ThinkProgress followed up on a report [...]/ Read More Here
Portman will back trade sanctions against China | The Columbus Dispatch
Portman will back trade sanctions against China | The Columbus Dispatch
WASHINGTON — In an unexpected move from one of the Senate’s leading advocates of free trade, Ohio Republican Rob Portman will back a controversial measure that critics warn could spark a trade war with China.
Portman, U.S. trade representative under President George W. Bush, will vote later this week or next for a bill sponsored by Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio. Read More Here
Portman, U.S. trade representative under President George W. Bush, will vote later this week or next for a bill sponsored by Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio. Read More Here
h/t Adrienne
October 24 News: Crop Scientists Warn Global Heating is Shrinking Crop Yields
October 24 News: Crop Scientists Warn Global Heating is Shrinking Crop Yields: Other Key Stories below: Solar Power is Beginning to go Mainstream Crop Scientists Now Fret About Heat, Not Just Water Crop scientists in the United States, the world’s largest food exporter, are pondering an odd question: could the danger of global warming really be the heat? For years, as scientists have assembled data on climate [...]/ Read More Here
The Book of Cletis: How "Fair" is a Fair Tax by Adrian Grimes
The Book of Cletis: How "Fair" is a Fair Tax by Adrian Grimes
Some States are seriously talking about getting rid of State Income Tax and replacing it with what is being called a “Fair Tax”. The reason it is supposed to be fair, and at first glance thisseems reasonable, is that it would be a tax on ‘consumption’ rather than on income. If you don’t buy a product or if you don’t use a service, you won’t pay tax. In other words, it is a Sales Tax. And various estimates have placed this tax as being anything from an additional 3 to 10 percent of whatever Sales Tax already exists in your State. This has also been discussed by some pretty high profile politician-type dudes as a means to replace Federal Income Tax, too, which would impose as much as an additional 35% sales tax on anything you buy. Read More Here
Some States are seriously talking about getting rid of State Income Tax and replacing it with what is being called a “Fair Tax”. The reason it is supposed to be fair, and at first glance thisseems reasonable, is that it would be a tax on ‘consumption’ rather than on income. If you don’t buy a product or if you don’t use a service, you won’t pay tax. In other words, it is a Sales Tax. And various estimates have placed this tax as being anything from an additional 3 to 10 percent of whatever Sales Tax already exists in your State. This has also been discussed by some pretty high profile politician-type dudes as a means to replace Federal Income Tax, too, which would impose as much as an additional 35% sales tax on anything you buy. Read More Here
Occupy Wall Street: Washington Still Doesn't Get It | Matt Taibbi | Rolling Stone
Occupy Wall Street: Washington Still Doesn't Get It | Matt Taibbi | Rolling Stone
I'll have more coming out about this in a few days, but there have been two disgusting developments in the realm of plutocratic intervention on behalf of Wall Street that everyone protesting should take note of. Read More Here
EPA Plans to Issue Rules Covering Fracking Wastewater - ProPublica
EPA Plans to Issue Rules Covering Fracking Wastewater - ProPublica
The EPA took another step toward tightening oversight of hydraulic fracturing today, announcing it would initiate a process to set national rules for treating wastewater discharged from gas drilling operations.
Until now, the agency has largely left it to states to police wastewater discharges. Some have allowed drillers to pump waste through sewage treatment plants that aren't equipped to remove many of the contaminants, leading to pollution in some rivers and to problems at drinking water facilities. Read More Here.
Until now, the agency has largely left it to states to police wastewater discharges. Some have allowed drillers to pump waste through sewage treatment plants that aren't equipped to remove many of the contaminants, leading to pollution in some rivers and to problems at drinking water facilities. Read More Here.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
The Only Idea For Addressing Income Inequality In Cantor’s Non-Speech: Don’t Say Mean Things About Rich People
The Only Idea For Addressing Income Inequality In Cantor’s Non-Speech: Don’t Say Mean Things About Rich People: House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) was supposed to deliver a speech on income inequality at the University of Pennsylvania today, but canceled when he realized that the public would be allowed to attend the speech (which, according to Penn, had been the case all along). The Daily Pennylvanian instead released his prepared remarks. Income [...]/ Read More Here
Mitt Romney Endorses Paul Ryan’s Plan To Kill Medicare, Wants To Add Cuts To Social Security | Addicting Info
Mitt Romney Endorses Paul Ryan’s Plan To Kill Medicare, Wants To Add Cuts To Social Security | Addicting Info
by Stephen D. Foster Jr.
Remember the GOP budget plan put forward by junior high congressman Paul Ryan? You know, the plan that would effectively gut Medicare by turning it into a voucher system that throws senior citizens to the private health insurance wolves? Yeah, that plan. Well, Mitt Romney agrees with that plan and he wants to add cuts to Social Security to it.
In an interview with the Las Vegas Review Journal earlier this week, Romney pandered to conservatives who are obsessed with killing the federal government and allowing sick and poor people to die. Romney offered a plan strikingly similar to the aforementioned Ryan Plan, except in his plan, Romney would add Social Security cuts on top of destroying Medicare and Medicaid. Romney rejects applying the payroll tax to all income, and instead wants to raise the retirement age and “slow down” benefits.
“Arithmetically, there are probably three ways of making Social Security permanently solvent,” Romney said. “One would be simply raising taxes. I don’t favor that one. Number two would be to increase the retirement age. Number three would be to have a little slower growth in benefits for higher income beneficiaries…. Some combination of those last two is the place we can go in my opinion to solve Social Security for future retirees.”
Romney also praised Paul Ryan’s approach to Medicare, which involves giving senior citizens vouchers to pay for private plans, which are not only more expensive than Medicare, they are also not guaranteed since private companies are notorious for refusing to pay for many medical procedures.
“You have a program like Paul Ryan has proposed which says we’re going to give people vouchers to let them chose among private plans,” Romney said. “I think that has a good deal of merit. I would not at the same time want to remove the option from people to have standard Medicare. But I would probably move toward a more managed care approach even in Medicare itself.”
The reason we have Medicare in the first place is because private insurance companies refused to cover senior citizens. The reason they wouldn’t do so is because the amount of care senior citizens often require would harm the precious profits of the companies. That’s why the federal government created Medicare. So senior citizens would have guaranteed insurance and care backed by the government. But Romney goes further than that. He would turn Medicaid into a block grant program and hand it over to states to make their own plans, phase out 10 percent of federal jobs, and reduce discretionary spending on all other non-defense programs to 2008 levels.
Basically, Romney would end Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid as we know them by either handing them over to Wall Street, or weakening them to the point of being useless, or wiping them out altogether. Any way you look at it, Romney is putting hundreds of millions of Americans at risk so that Wall Street can profit. This puts Romney on par with the likes of Rick Perry and other extreme conservatives who think the social safety net should cease to exist. So really it doesn’t matter which GOP candidate wins the nomination. Each and every one of them, even Romney, would throw us all under a speeding bus in the name of profit and keeping the top 1% in their places of power. Romney is just another corporate conservative pawn. The very thought of destroying these crucial programs that millions of Americans need should automatically disqualify Romney from ever becoming President. He is not a defender of the middle class, and he is not the candidate independents should support, especially if you have children and grandparents.
by Stephen D. Foster Jr.
Remember the GOP budget plan put forward by junior high congressman Paul Ryan? You know, the plan that would effectively gut Medicare by turning it into a voucher system that throws senior citizens to the private health insurance wolves? Yeah, that plan. Well, Mitt Romney agrees with that plan and he wants to add cuts to Social Security to it.
In an interview with the Las Vegas Review Journal earlier this week, Romney pandered to conservatives who are obsessed with killing the federal government and allowing sick and poor people to die. Romney offered a plan strikingly similar to the aforementioned Ryan Plan, except in his plan, Romney would add Social Security cuts on top of destroying Medicare and Medicaid. Romney rejects applying the payroll tax to all income, and instead wants to raise the retirement age and “slow down” benefits.
“Arithmetically, there are probably three ways of making Social Security permanently solvent,” Romney said. “One would be simply raising taxes. I don’t favor that one. Number two would be to increase the retirement age. Number three would be to have a little slower growth in benefits for higher income beneficiaries…. Some combination of those last two is the place we can go in my opinion to solve Social Security for future retirees.”
Romney also praised Paul Ryan’s approach to Medicare, which involves giving senior citizens vouchers to pay for private plans, which are not only more expensive than Medicare, they are also not guaranteed since private companies are notorious for refusing to pay for many medical procedures.
“You have a program like Paul Ryan has proposed which says we’re going to give people vouchers to let them chose among private plans,” Romney said. “I think that has a good deal of merit. I would not at the same time want to remove the option from people to have standard Medicare. But I would probably move toward a more managed care approach even in Medicare itself.”
The reason we have Medicare in the first place is because private insurance companies refused to cover senior citizens. The reason they wouldn’t do so is because the amount of care senior citizens often require would harm the precious profits of the companies. That’s why the federal government created Medicare. So senior citizens would have guaranteed insurance and care backed by the government. But Romney goes further than that. He would turn Medicaid into a block grant program and hand it over to states to make their own plans, phase out 10 percent of federal jobs, and reduce discretionary spending on all other non-defense programs to 2008 levels.
Basically, Romney would end Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid as we know them by either handing them over to Wall Street, or weakening them to the point of being useless, or wiping them out altogether. Any way you look at it, Romney is putting hundreds of millions of Americans at risk so that Wall Street can profit. This puts Romney on par with the likes of Rick Perry and other extreme conservatives who think the social safety net should cease to exist. So really it doesn’t matter which GOP candidate wins the nomination. Each and every one of them, even Romney, would throw us all under a speeding bus in the name of profit and keeping the top 1% in their places of power. Romney is just another corporate conservative pawn. The very thought of destroying these crucial programs that millions of Americans need should automatically disqualify Romney from ever becoming President. He is not a defender of the middle class, and he is not the candidate independents should support, especially if you have children and grandparents.
President Obama Has Written Personal Checks To Help Struggling Americans | Addicting Info
President Obama Has Written Personal Checks To Help Struggling Americans | Addicting Info
By Stephen D. Foster Jr.
By Stephen D. Foster Jr.
Republicans in Congress have largely refused to help struggling Americans this year, so what can President Obama do about it? Turns out the President throws on his Superman cape and helps financially struggling Americans by giving them money from his own pocket.
The President reads ten letters a day, and according to a new book by Washington Post reporter Eli Saslow, the President will occasionally write personal checks to struggling Americans in an effort to do something to ease their pain.
“Some of these letters you read and you say, ‘Gosh, I really want to help this person, and I may not have the tools to help them right now,” the President told Saslow. “And then you start thinking about the fact that for every one person that wrote describing their story, there might be another hundred thousand going through the same thing. So there are times when I’m reading the letters and I feel pained that I can’t do more, faster, to make a difference in their lives.”
While Congressional Republicans continue to do nothing about the suffering of the American people, President Obama is taking an active role on a more personal level. He’s literally using his own money to help Americans in need. That’s the kind of compassion that Republicans lack. President Obama could teach the Christian Right Wing a thing or two.
The President reads ten letters a day, and according to a new book by Washington Post reporter Eli Saslow, the President will occasionally write personal checks to struggling Americans in an effort to do something to ease their pain.
“Some of these letters you read and you say, ‘Gosh, I really want to help this person, and I may not have the tools to help them right now,” the President told Saslow. “And then you start thinking about the fact that for every one person that wrote describing their story, there might be another hundred thousand going through the same thing. So there are times when I’m reading the letters and I feel pained that I can’t do more, faster, to make a difference in their lives.”
While Congressional Republicans continue to do nothing about the suffering of the American people, President Obama is taking an active role on a more personal level. He’s literally using his own money to help Americans in need. That’s the kind of compassion that Republicans lack. President Obama could teach the Christian Right Wing a thing or two.
More Southerners Contradict the Professional Left | Addicting Info
More Southerners Contradict the Professional Left | Addicting Info
By Marion
Alan Jackson, Democrat, wrote a song two years ago about the effect corporations and their financed business entities were having on the rural and small-town South. It’s very poignant and conveys a strong message:-
Jackson is from Georgia, a strong and lifelong Democrat, who admires the President. For the twentysomething know-it-alls who aspire to be the next generation of Professional Left Punditry – like David O Atkins, who hates the South and so has reinvented himself as a Californian, or Zaid Jilani, who hails from Jackson’s state and claims to be a proud Southerner, but who refuses to address racism of any sort (because he’s from the “Left” where it doesn’t exist) – it’s so nice to know they’re carrying on the tradition found amongst the current elitist and exclusive Professional Left of terminal headupassitis.
That’s a hat trick of Southern voices who’ve shouted out for the President recently – Toby Keith, Alan Jackson and Kentucky’s own George Clooney. Ms Wasserman-Schultz has got the makings of an army of Obots to march into the South and campaign for the President, if she chooses to ask them to do so.
By Marion
Alan Jackson, Democrat, wrote a song two years ago about the effect corporations and their financed business entities were having on the rural and small-town South. It’s very poignant and conveys a strong message:-
That’s a hat trick of Southern voices who’ve shouted out for the President recently – Toby Keith, Alan Jackson and Kentucky’s own George Clooney. Ms Wasserman-Schultz has got the makings of an army of Obots to march into the South and campaign for the President, if she chooses to ask them to do so.
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