Our congress has made known one path to a balanced budget and what they refer to as “prosperity” for the American people.  It is a path that is wrought with pain and sacrifice for the vast majority of Americans and extreme wealth and comfort for the rest.  The proposal calls for tax cuts for the top brackets and a near annihilation of social services that the poor, sick, elderly and disabled rely on.  Their lives literally depend on these services.

The first major change is to replace Medicare with a voucher system that would provide seniors with a fixed amount of money to purchase insurance from private insurance companies.   The second is changing Medicaid to block grants to states for them to offer a fixed amount of services to the poorest and most vulnerable people in the nation.  Neither of these options are as robust as the current programs.  There will not be sufficient support for our most vulnerable people and their quality of life will be severely reduced by it.

So what does this amount to?  I believe it amounts to the wealthiest among us along with their wholly owned congressmen making a determination that the vast majority of Americans are nothing more than capital for the wealthiest among us.

Is this what we want for America?  I sincerely hope not.  The American people who believe that they are individuals and that they are valuable to society must unite under a common banner or risk becoming Disposable Americans.

 

 

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BlueStateMan
Guest

Simon & Garfunkel

“Old Friends”

funksands
Member

I have a lot of clients that are Medicare or nearly Medicare age.

Paul Ryan’s plan would put half of them into poverty and greatly diminish the standard of living of another third.

My sample size is about 1500.

Add on Pete Peterson’s plan for Social Security and it will literally kill millions of seniors. Many by choice.

Poll after poll shows what seniors number one fear is:

67%: Running out of money.

33%: Dying.

BlueStateMan
Guest

As a student of history, the apparent worldview of those on the right reminds me of the rationale used by the “physicians” loyal to the 3rd RËICH.. those who would decide upon which children to “euthanise” in order to “purify” the “Volk”.. only NOW it is focused upon the SANCTIFICATION of the WEALTHY.

The RESULTS end up being the same..

Those without ECONOMIC VIABILITY or PURPOSE are EXPENDABLE

Those WITHOUT WEALTH are EXPENDABLE…

Those who RISK LIFE AND LIMB are EXPENDABLE as well.. just look to their stance on the 911 heroes and their PUTRID EXPECTATIONS that police officers, firefighters and emergency responders.. not to mention HUMAN BEINGS that have spent a LIFETIME contributing to society… working, raising families, PAYING TAXES… ALL of them expected to remain “on their own”.

A perverted worldview that translates “E Pluribus Unum” as “Every Man for HIMSELF”.

They all can be SACRIFICED AT THE ALTER OF UNFETTERED “CAPITALISM” simply because their survival (or well being) is considered “inconvenient”.. and, more horrific, it seems to escape the conscience (or the consciousness) of those who populate the republican party… to a PERSON.

Forgive me for saying so, but these degenerate sociopaths (as well there enablers in the media) should never be allowed to have any part in the governance of our nation whatsoever.

In fact, they should be ostracized from every facet of civil society and relegated to the SEWER from which they emerged.

chazmania
Guest

There are classic ABUSIVE mentalities at work hear…
Its like this..most people under an abusive relationship don’t realize the creeping and subtle eroding of freedom right off..they accept certain restrictions with the idea that its keeping the peace. But the Abuser keeps upping the anti and testing what they can get away with and as the resistance is broken down the anti is upped again..
One fact that Americans refuse to acknowledge is that the corporate and political structure now in place is an abusive one..Fully follow the lines of an abuser always looking to increase its servitude of the victim and push the level of abuse…. Obama may mean well but he is part of that structure and surrounded by its enablers and abusers… As most Abused finally waking up to it we awake Americans have now got to figure out what to do about it..But unless you face the cold hard truth and facts you will wallow in their abuse for years and suffer every day you do nothing…As they weaken us they weaken our resolve..they crazy make…they isolate and they divide.
BUT FIRST!!!..we must face the fact that our government YES OUR GOVERNMENT is an ABUSIVE entity and self serving BASTARD that prays on the weakest in its family…[imgcomment image[/img]

kesmarn
Admin

chaz, I’m less inclined to see government as the enemy. To me, the government is almost like fire, guns, water, the internet — something of a neutral force, a tool that can be used for good or ill depending on who’s controlling the tool. Fire can warm us, provide a cooked meal, light a room. Or it can kill people or destroy a building. The fire itself doesn’t have a moral identity.

The problem — the enemy, if you will — is the mega-corporations who want to own the only entity that potentially stands between them and domination of the country (or the world, depending on how ambitious the CEO might be)– namely, the government. They hope to accomplish this by buying politicians, rigging elections, and controlling the message by owning the media, among many other dirty tricks.

If we stay engaged, elect people who are on our side, and refuse to turn on each other, we can have a government that is like a mighty sword in our hands for the force of justice. A government that we need not hate and fear.

Bottom line: a government of the people, for the people and by the people.

Then capitalism will assume it’s proper place in society — as the servant of a prosperous country, not its master. Capitalism is like a pit bull — useful when it’s on a short leash under the strict control of its master. Deadly when allowed to run loose and unfettered.

audadvnc
Member
audadvnc

I sure hope you’re right, because nowadays it appears that the pit bulls have their owners cornered.

Truth
Member

It really is unbelievable how this can be on the table in the first place. When in reality, as Thom Hartmann said, it is extremely easy to solve the problem. (More see on today’s Daily Planet Vol. 50 – ( –oh, Happy Birthday!–):

(…) A budget shouldn’t just focus on spending cuts directed at the poor and middle-class — it should also include revenue raisers like closing corporate loopholes and asking millionaires and billionaires to cough up a few extra bucks a year. Let’s cut some wasteful spending, but let’s also raise a few taxes. But this common sense narrative has been lost inside the main stream corporate media — where there’s only one question that’s being asked today, and that is “how much spending needs to be cut?”
Not, “why aren’t some of the most profitable corporations in the history of the world skating by paying zero taxes?”
Not, “why are the wealthiest Americans enjoying historically low tax rates during a historically high budget deficit?”
Did you know that corporate taxes used to account for roughly 30% of revenue collected by the government — and today that number is only 7%? Probably not, because the corporate media, which would prefer not to pay its taxes and only wants us to focus on just how much Republicans and Democrats can cut out of the budget?
So why is the media ignoring these calls? (…)

(…) The solutions to our budget problems are simple — you wouldn’t BELIEVE how simple they are. I can tell you the solution using only 6 words…ROLL — BACK — THE — REAGAN — TAX — CUTS. Heck — roll back the Bush tax cuts, go back to Clinton levels where the wealthiest Americans paid an extra 3% — just 3% — three measly percentage points, and we’d take a huge chunk out of our deficit, just like that.
Remember how the Clinton budget passed without a single Republican vote in the House and gave us not only a balanced budget but a surplus? And if we rolled back the Reagan tax cuts, and made billionaires pay at least 74%, like they did for more than half of the 20th century, when our nation prospered and the middle class grew — then we’d have a budget SURPLUS!
A budget surplus? Can you imagine how different life in America would be with a budget surplus?! We’d be paying down our debt year-to-year. And we’d be able to use that extra cash to do things that our nation hasn’t done in generations since Reagan started “starving the beast. (…)

(…) So call your congressman and tell him to vote for the simple solution, the right solution, and roll back the Reagan tax cuts. (…)

jkkFL
Guest

I have a bias against vouchers!
They appear to give people ‘freedom of choice’, but often are not sufficient.
The recipient therefore appears to be a bad manager, allowing blame to fall on them, rather than ‘the system’ who created it.
Just another way to shift blame back to those who have no culpability whatsoever.

kesmarn
Admin

Well said, BassetDad.

The irony — the Tea Party and its corporate owners falsely claiming that “Death Panels” would result from “Obamacare,” when Paul Ryan’s plan would produce the genuine article!

If this program is enacted, I think it’s safe to say that people — the poor, children and the elderly — will die because of it. Plain and simple. But apparently in “their” book — hey — kids and old people are not “producers” (which, I suppose would put them in the “parasite” class??) so where’s the profit in providing for them? Cold-hearted is an understatement.

Questinia
Member

A voucher system. For seniors.

Even I would have a problem with a voucher system and choosing amongst private for profit insurance companies.

They are insane. The operative modifier is “for profit”. Death panels indeed. The only thing I can say that’s positive is they are pushing the envelop so far that it will eventually lead to revolt. I’m not saying anything insightful but it gets to the point where truth just becomes a repeatable cliché.

kesmarn
Admin

I do believe we were typing the words “profit” and “Death Panels” simultaneously, Q. I’m just a slower typist! 😀