Rep. Paul Ryan (Wis.) said today that if Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were president, the nation's fiscal crisis would have been averted. “Look, if we had a Hillary Clinton presidency, if we had Erskine Bowles as chief of staff of the White House or president of the United States, I think we would have fixed this fiscal mess by now," Ryan said to NBC's David Gregory on "Meet the Republicans. These guys are hilarious! A couple days ago they're blaming her for Benghazi, now they think she's a magician.
He went on to say, “We have to expand our appeal to more people and show how we'll take the country's founding principles and apply them to the problem of the day, solutions to fix our problems. We have to show our ideas are better at fighting poverty, better at solving health care, how our ideas are better at solving problems that people experience in their daily lives. And that's a challenge we have to rise to, and I think we're up for it."
Who is he kidding? The American people saw what he and the Republicans had to offer in November and soundly rejected it, except for those who actually believe Fox is real news. They want to appeal to more people? Really? By jamming a transvaginal ultrasound probe up a woman’s privates when she seeks a legal procedure. By trying to prevent minorities from voting? By passing laws where discriminating against gay people is ok. Republicans want to fight poverty? How, by putting more people in poverty so they can lower the threshold of what's called poverty? By crushing unions with right-to-work for less, thereby lower everyone’s standard of living. They want to solve healthcare? By repealing the Affordable Care Act, voucherizing Medicare, privatizing Social Security and raising the retirement age so you’ll be dead before you get to use any of those programs. He claims they’re better at problem solving. Considering he and 16 other Republicans met on the night of President Obama’s first inauguration night, to plan on how they would destroy his presidency, his words run shallow.
Here's the deal, if Hillary runs in 2016, I'm with her. However, if the Teathugs still have power in the House or Senate, we're still screwed. The right wing wants to destroy the New Deal, the Great Society and the ACA, widely known as Obamacare. They will not be satisfied until we have given every last dime that we’ve worked for to the billionaires who are pulling the strings in Washington. I do not see Hillary adopting Paul Ayn Rand Ryan's plan which will ensure America’s seniors are in poverty, die young, eat cat food and end up homeless.
Showing posts with label social security. Show all posts
Showing posts with label social security. Show all posts
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
No Cliff Hanger Afterall
I have to say, I'm not sure how to feel about the so-called "fiscal cliff" agreement. As someone pretty far to the left, I have to drag my pragmatic side out of the moth balls once in a while. Here's what's been rolling through my brain:
I'm not particularly concerned that the agreement went from income above $250K to $400K on individuals. Would I have preferred the $250K?. Sure. However, we got personal exemptions knocked back to those making above $250K. The estate tax was a joke. Republicans won. Their top rate went from 35% to 40%, after the first $5M. Big whoop. Capital gains and dividends went from 15% to 20%. Another GOP win. They were set to go back to 39.6% The alternative minimum tax was a Democratic win. The middle class is protected from getting jacked on it moving forward. It was originally designed to ensure that the wealthy did not avoid owing taxes by using loopholes. We do have a five year extension on expansions of the child tax credit, the earned income tax credit, and an up-to-$2,500 tax credit for college tuition. Also extended for one year is the accelerated "bonus" depreciation of business investments in new property and equipment, a tax credit for research and development costs and a tax credit for renewable energy such as wind-generated electricity. Long term unemployed got a one year extension, which was one I was concerned about. I guess it's a win for Democrats, but not a strong one as we'll still have a GOP led House a year from now. I'm not unemployed, however if you can't find a job, you end up on the street. The GOP thinks someone who lost a $75K per year job should just pick up a couple shifts at Walmart or McDonalds and all their problems will be solved. Well, not if you have a mortgage. The Social Security payroll tax cut is a short term loss for workers, but at the same time, if we're not paying in now, it won't be there when we retire. And no, I don't believe for a minite Social Security is in trouble. It's biggest problem is that's where most of our borrowing has come from and the DC politicians do not want to pay it back...excluding Bernie Sanders.
Here's what I really don't like. Democrats did not get the debt ceiling raised in this deal...for at least two years. We are going to be going through all this baloney again in 2 or 3 months. President Obama says he will not negotiate with the hostage takers again, but his track record says otherwise. We'll see soon enough. I was actually ok with going over the cliff as it was the only way to cut the damn over-bloated military budget. Now we're going to have to listen to Republicans, led by John McCain and Lindsay Graham insist that the military can not be touched , but we need to decimate Social security and Medicare. I'm worried about wobbly kneed Democrats buying into it.
I'm not particularly concerned that the agreement went from income above $250K to $400K on individuals. Would I have preferred the $250K?. Sure. However, we got personal exemptions knocked back to those making above $250K. The estate tax was a joke. Republicans won. Their top rate went from 35% to 40%, after the first $5M. Big whoop. Capital gains and dividends went from 15% to 20%. Another GOP win. They were set to go back to 39.6% The alternative minimum tax was a Democratic win. The middle class is protected from getting jacked on it moving forward. It was originally designed to ensure that the wealthy did not avoid owing taxes by using loopholes. We do have a five year extension on expansions of the child tax credit, the earned income tax credit, and an up-to-$2,500 tax credit for college tuition. Also extended for one year is the accelerated "bonus" depreciation of business investments in new property and equipment, a tax credit for research and development costs and a tax credit for renewable energy such as wind-generated electricity. Long term unemployed got a one year extension, which was one I was concerned about. I guess it's a win for Democrats, but not a strong one as we'll still have a GOP led House a year from now. I'm not unemployed, however if you can't find a job, you end up on the street. The GOP thinks someone who lost a $75K per year job should just pick up a couple shifts at Walmart or McDonalds and all their problems will be solved. Well, not if you have a mortgage. The Social Security payroll tax cut is a short term loss for workers, but at the same time, if we're not paying in now, it won't be there when we retire. And no, I don't believe for a minite Social Security is in trouble. It's biggest problem is that's where most of our borrowing has come from and the DC politicians do not want to pay it back...excluding Bernie Sanders.
Here's what I really don't like. Democrats did not get the debt ceiling raised in this deal...for at least two years. We are going to be going through all this baloney again in 2 or 3 months. President Obama says he will not negotiate with the hostage takers again, but his track record says otherwise. We'll see soon enough. I was actually ok with going over the cliff as it was the only way to cut the damn over-bloated military budget. Now we're going to have to listen to Republicans, led by John McCain and Lindsay Graham insist that the military can not be touched , but we need to decimate Social security and Medicare. I'm worried about wobbly kneed Democrats buying into it.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Heroes Defending Social Security
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) introduced legislation Tuesday that would safeguard Social Security, the most successful and reliable federal program in our nation's history. Sanders' legislation would require Congress to muster extraordinary majorities if it intended to approve any reduction in Social Security benefits. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) will introduce the legislation in the House.
Sen. Sanders was joined by U.S. Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-MD), Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), along with Rep. Weiner at a Capitol Hill press conference yesterday to rally support for Sanders' proposal to protect Social Security. Here stands some of the few US politicians that aren't bought. This group demonstrates why we need campaign finance reform. We need more politicians who listen to the people, like these heroes.
Sen. Sanders was joined by U.S. Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-MD), Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), along with Rep. Weiner at a Capitol Hill press conference yesterday to rally support for Sanders' proposal to protect Social Security. Here stands some of the few US politicians that aren't bought. This group demonstrates why we need campaign finance reform. We need more politicians who listen to the people, like these heroes.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Maddow Encourages Democrats To Read the Polls and Find a Spine
One of the many things that sets Rachel Maddow apart from the rest of the political commentators is the fact that she holds strong, smart opinions, while managing to be nice about it. Rachel began Wednesday's show by listing some polling results, like a surtax on millionaires, ending Bush tax cuts, subsidies for oil companies, and allowing public unions to collectively bargain. She pointed out that, in that recent poll, Americans supported all of them at levels usually reserved for questions like “Are puppies cute?” Guess what? Those are all liberal policy ideas by today's standards! She then wondered why many more Americans identify themselves as conservative, rather than liberal. Rachel, wonder no more. The corporate owned right wing media has effectively made the word liberal a dirty word to be equated with anti-American, hippie, communist, marxist, etc...
That is the only reason to explain why the same people who favor taxing millionaires by 81%, ending Big Oil’s corporate welfare by 74%, ending the Bush tax cuts by 68% and leaving collective bargaining alone at 77% just overwhelmingly voted for people who will never do any of that. In fact, they voted for people who campaigned on never doing any of that, with their big goal to destroy so-called entitlements. Never mind that we paid for those entitlements. Heck she didn't even put up the overwhelming polls about protecting Social Security and Medicare. While Rachel is too kind to say it, here's the truth, Americans are idiots. They're more concerned with the thought of her getting married; or a woman making her own reproductive decisions; or being able to have a weapon arsenal in their basement; or a mosque being built anywhere; or immigration because the Mexicans are getting all those highly sought after, great paying, cabbage picking jobs. People have been voting against their best interest for the better part of 30 years thanks to the right wing's successful divide and conquer strategy. Enjoy Rachel's video, I'm going to go listen to Green Day's American Idiot.
That is the only reason to explain why the same people who favor taxing millionaires by 81%, ending Big Oil’s corporate welfare by 74%, ending the Bush tax cuts by 68% and leaving collective bargaining alone at 77% just overwhelmingly voted for people who will never do any of that. In fact, they voted for people who campaigned on never doing any of that, with their big goal to destroy so-called entitlements. Never mind that we paid for those entitlements. Heck she didn't even put up the overwhelming polls about protecting Social Security and Medicare. While Rachel is too kind to say it, here's the truth, Americans are idiots. They're more concerned with the thought of her getting married; or a woman making her own reproductive decisions; or being able to have a weapon arsenal in their basement; or a mosque being built anywhere; or immigration because the Mexicans are getting all those highly sought after, great paying, cabbage picking jobs. People have been voting against their best interest for the better part of 30 years thanks to the right wing's successful divide and conquer strategy. Enjoy Rachel's video, I'm going to go listen to Green Day's American Idiot.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
The War on the Middle Class Continues...Quietly
I saw a report on the Nieman Watchdog entitled "Has Obama created a Social Security death panel?" this week that has me extremely concerned. Evidently the Obama Administration and the leadership in Congress have empowered enormous and unaccountable authority to 18 unrepresentative, excessively wealthy white men. These guys could quite possibly decide the financial future to some degree for every single one of us. They are the members of President Obama’s newly-formed National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. The fact that they lack any type of diversity is abhorrent, but more worrisome is they lack variance of opinion. While claiming "everything is on the table" (*wink*), one of them is the CEO of a major defense contractor.
One area that they're in agreement on -- targeting programs that help the middle class and those Americans who are the most vulnerable. Erskine Bowles went on record before the North Carolina Bankers' Association saying that if the Commission doesn't "mess with Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security ... America is going to be a second-rate power" in his lifetime. It's been suggested with regard to Social Security that it doesn't affect anyone over 60. Well that's very nice, but what about those of us in our 40's and 50's who have been paying into the system our entire lives? Tough shit? We all knew 20+ years ago the we had to supplement our social security earnings with IRA's and later 401K's after Reagan made it vogue to start union busting and encouraging companies not to offer pensions to their loyal employees. However supplementing something and suddenly losing a decent amount of your own money that you were expecting (and faithfully paid into) returned should be considered grand larceny. At the very least, they should pay us out for our "contributions." I could begrudgedly live with that, even with interest lost - at least it's not the entire "contribution." My guess is that they'll raise retirement age again to a point where they'll be comfortable knowing most of us won't collect a red cent of our own money. Eventually we'll have a society of paupers and wealthy pricks who took our homes when we couldn't afford health insurance or our property taxes as we get older. Maybe I'm cynical, but the rules are skewed to the wealthy who will destroy anything and everything in their quest for power and domination. When will we collectively ask in earnest, how much is enough?
So, that begs the question; Why bother fighting to elect Democrats when they're just more polite versions of the Republican agenda? In some ways it's worse because we got our hopes up..."change we can believe in" and all that jazz. At least Republicans make no bones about the fact that they're corporate loving assholes. Even Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) who I thought was on our side said, “the bleeding-heart liberals have to make real sacrifices to strengthen our nation.” Why? Why can't the wealthy or the corporations make sacrifices? Why do "we the people" allow them to treat every individual as dispensible? Is what we're facing right now due to years of destroying education in this country. People blindly follow their party without questioning their motives. I think the time has come for a real third party, one that really works for the people. I know in time they'll become corrupt as well, but at least "we the people" might get a honeymoon. I'm not talking about Libertarians, they're just Republicans who smoke pot; I'm not talking about the Green Party who just worry about one issue; albeit an important one. I'm talking about a real Independent Party; a party that does the people's business. There are only 2 or 3 current Senators that might fit that mold in my opinion; Bernie Sanders of Vermont, possibly Russ Feingold of Wisconsin and I think Ohio's Sherrod Brown has potential. When they vote no on bills that are sometimes wanted by the Democratic Party, it's because the bills haven't gone far enough for their consituents...not just to say no. President Obama has done numerous things that concern me, but this alleged backroom deal may actually be the most upsetting to date. Apparently the war on the middle class is one that they're comfortable putting into the win column.
One area that they're in agreement on -- targeting programs that help the middle class and those Americans who are the most vulnerable. Erskine Bowles went on record before the North Carolina Bankers' Association saying that if the Commission doesn't "mess with Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security ... America is going to be a second-rate power" in his lifetime. It's been suggested with regard to Social Security that it doesn't affect anyone over 60. Well that's very nice, but what about those of us in our 40's and 50's who have been paying into the system our entire lives? Tough shit? We all knew 20+ years ago the we had to supplement our social security earnings with IRA's and later 401K's after Reagan made it vogue to start union busting and encouraging companies not to offer pensions to their loyal employees. However supplementing something and suddenly losing a decent amount of your own money that you were expecting (and faithfully paid into) returned should be considered grand larceny. At the very least, they should pay us out for our "contributions." I could begrudgedly live with that, even with interest lost - at least it's not the entire "contribution." My guess is that they'll raise retirement age again to a point where they'll be comfortable knowing most of us won't collect a red cent of our own money. Eventually we'll have a society of paupers and wealthy pricks who took our homes when we couldn't afford health insurance or our property taxes as we get older. Maybe I'm cynical, but the rules are skewed to the wealthy who will destroy anything and everything in their quest for power and domination. When will we collectively ask in earnest, how much is enough?
So, that begs the question; Why bother fighting to elect Democrats when they're just more polite versions of the Republican agenda? In some ways it's worse because we got our hopes up..."change we can believe in" and all that jazz. At least Republicans make no bones about the fact that they're corporate loving assholes. Even Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) who I thought was on our side said, “the bleeding-heart liberals have to make real sacrifices to strengthen our nation.” Why? Why can't the wealthy or the corporations make sacrifices? Why do "we the people" allow them to treat every individual as dispensible? Is what we're facing right now due to years of destroying education in this country. People blindly follow their party without questioning their motives. I think the time has come for a real third party, one that really works for the people. I know in time they'll become corrupt as well, but at least "we the people" might get a honeymoon. I'm not talking about Libertarians, they're just Republicans who smoke pot; I'm not talking about the Green Party who just worry about one issue; albeit an important one. I'm talking about a real Independent Party; a party that does the people's business. There are only 2 or 3 current Senators that might fit that mold in my opinion; Bernie Sanders of Vermont, possibly Russ Feingold of Wisconsin and I think Ohio's Sherrod Brown has potential. When they vote no on bills that are sometimes wanted by the Democratic Party, it's because the bills haven't gone far enough for their consituents...not just to say no. President Obama has done numerous things that concern me, but this alleged backroom deal may actually be the most upsetting to date. Apparently the war on the middle class is one that they're comfortable putting into the win column.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Republican Solution To Deficit - Keep Shafting The Middle Class
All of this deficit talk is starting to get on my nerves. Of course it’s an issue, but this didn’t start last January. Why is the military/defense budget exempt from spending cuts? It’s our biggest source of wasteful spending, it always has been. Of course Cheney's Halliburton would suffer greatly and we can’t have that. Those mercenaries employed by Blackwater and KBR are real American heroes. Next, make the rich pay the same share as they did before Reagan gave them the keys to the Kingdom. Their pre-1980 tax wasn’t denting their lifestyle. Tax the hell out of U.S. corporations manufacturing outside of our borders. Oh wait, that would make sense. Our politicians are more concerned with who’s funding their next election, which brings me to my desire for term limits. We will need a national referendum or ballot proposition or whatever it’s officially called to ever have any hopes of that happening.
Last night I watched Texas Representative Jeb Hansarling (R) go on Chris Matthews Hardball. He blamed the Democrats for everything naturally, but that's not the thing he said that set me off. He basically called for a cut to Social Security benefits for anyone who is currently under age 55. Since this affects me…and many others, I’m concerned. I’ve been paying into that system for more years than I care to remember and this fool is basically saying “tough luck, sucker!” Yes, I’m well aware of the fact that I can’t live off S.S. alone, but since I paid into this agreement, not getting anything back basically means the country downright stole from me and everyone else who falls into our category. We need to start taking care of our own citizens and stop policing the world. How about we try that?!
We spend at least $607 billion annually for military expenditures. The next closest country in spending is China…at $85 billion. Do we actually have to spend seven times more than another country to be safe? Those big bad Russians spend a whopping $58.6 billion. We are 41.5% of the whole world’s share of military expenditures! Just cut the spending in half and we’ll still have the biggest d***s in the world. Isn’t that what this is really about? Seems like a simple enough solution. The deficit would be under control in about 5 years. Furthermore, Bush lied when he said, “They hate us for our freedoms.” That’s not why they hate us. They hate us because we meddle in other country’s policies without being asked. The U.S. really needs to take a look in the mirror and think about what our reaction would be if another country, say China, comes here and starts telling us how to live. I'm guessing we wouldn't take kindly to it.
Last night I watched Texas Representative Jeb Hansarling (R) go on Chris Matthews Hardball. He blamed the Democrats for everything naturally, but that's not the thing he said that set me off. He basically called for a cut to Social Security benefits for anyone who is currently under age 55. Since this affects me…and many others, I’m concerned. I’ve been paying into that system for more years than I care to remember and this fool is basically saying “tough luck, sucker!” Yes, I’m well aware of the fact that I can’t live off S.S. alone, but since I paid into this agreement, not getting anything back basically means the country downright stole from me and everyone else who falls into our category. We need to start taking care of our own citizens and stop policing the world. How about we try that?!
We spend at least $607 billion annually for military expenditures. The next closest country in spending is China…at $85 billion. Do we actually have to spend seven times more than another country to be safe? Those big bad Russians spend a whopping $58.6 billion. We are 41.5% of the whole world’s share of military expenditures! Just cut the spending in half and we’ll still have the biggest d***s in the world. Isn’t that what this is really about? Seems like a simple enough solution. The deficit would be under control in about 5 years. Furthermore, Bush lied when he said, “They hate us for our freedoms.” That’s not why they hate us. They hate us because we meddle in other country’s policies without being asked. The U.S. really needs to take a look in the mirror and think about what our reaction would be if another country, say China, comes here and starts telling us how to live. I'm guessing we wouldn't take kindly to it.
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