MOA is trying to keep you informed about what's happening out there with VOUCHERCARE. That's why I am posting as many videos as I can about it. We have to spread the word. YOU have to spread the word to everyone you know about VOUCHERCARE. ..........................
How is it going back home for the GOP in their Townhalls since their vote for Paul Ryan's VOUCHERCARE?
Record crowds of supporters and opponents flooded town hall meetings throughout southeastern Wisconsin on Tuesday to hear Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) defend his plan to trim government spending — including controversial changes to the Medicare program.
In the district’s Democratic stronghold of Kenosha, at least 200 people were left outside once the 300-seat auditorium filled to capacity. The people in the crowd largely opposed the Ryan plan, holding signs such as “RyanCare = Dying Bare,” “Leave Medicare Alone” or simply, “Save Medicare!”
Ed Schultz also has a segment about the townhalls, and how the GOP believes it just has a ' messaging' problem.
It's not a 'COUPON' or a 'VOUCHER'...oh no, according to the GOP, it's ' VOUCHER SUPPORT', and it's going to help our Seniors.
BULL----
It's VOUCHERCARE, people.
To quote the GOP -----how they will ' fail' if the campaign discussion is about MEDICARE....but, if they can ' muddy the waters' with lies, then they can compete.
Look at the folks in these townhalls.....the GOP nightmare.
'Prince Of Pork' Funneled $236M To His Nonprofit Groups
The new chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY), has funneled more than $236 million in federal funds to nonprofit groups he created since 2000, according to a new report by an ethics watchdog group.
Another $227 million in federal loans, grants and contracts went to a group of private firms linked to Rogers and the nonprofit companies, the report by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) found.
"During the past few months, there have been many glowing stories about Rep. Rogers, and how he has supposedly sworn off his porkish ways," CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan said in a statement.
"CREW's research shows, however, this is not an accurate portrayal of the true Hal Rogers," Sloan said. "In reality, Rep. Rogers has built a fiefdom, where millions in federal funding can continue to be funneled to home state projects each year."
Foster children would be allowed to get clothing only from second hand stores By Todd A. Heywood | 04.22.11 | 11:40 am
Under a new budget proposal from State Sen. Bruce Casswell, children in the state’s foster care system would be allowed to purchase clothing only in used clothing stores.
Casswell, a Republican representing Branch, Hillsdale, Lenawee and St. Joseph counties, made the proposal this week, reports Michigan Public Radio.
His explanation? “I never had anything new,” Caswell says. “I got all the hand-me-downs. And my dad, he did a lot of shopping at the Salvation Army, and his comment was — and quite frankly it’s true — once you’re out of the store and you walk down the street, nobody knows where you bought your clothes.”
Under his plan, foster children would receive gift cards that could only be used at places like the Salvation Army, Goodwill and other second hand clothing stores.
The plan was knocked by the Michigan League for Human Services. Gilda Jacobs, executive director of the group, had this to say: “Honestly, I was flabbergasted,” Jacobs says. “I really couldn’t believe this. Because I think, gosh, is this where we’ve gone in this state? I think that there’s the whole issue of dignity. You’re saying to somebody, you don’t deserve to go in and buy a new pair of gym shoes. You know, for a lot of foster kids, they already have so much stacked against them.”
Casswell says the plan will save the state money, though it isn’t clear how much the state spends on clothing for foster children or how much could be saved this way.
You know, everytime you think that these folks can't go any low...they always find a way to get lower. This is about humiliating these children. These folks are just evil. Period. Soulless, evil folks.
As someone pointed out, they don't know how long Lawrence O'Donnell will remain employed by NBC after what he did on last night's show about Trump, NBC, and the Birthers.
While I think it’s ridiculous, because if someone put a gun to my head, I couldn’t produce my long-form birth certificate. Have no idea what it look like, have no idea where to get it, because the hospital I was born at has since closed. The only birth certificate I have is one that has similar information to what the President has already released.
It’s an absolute crock of shyt, and it’s only because this President is BLACK.
BUT….politically, I think it’s brilliant of the President.
Because, guess what, folks?
The President knows what I know….
IT WON’T MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
There will be a poll taken next week, asking now, if the Republican Birthers are satisfied…
the answer to that poll will be NO.
A RESOUNDING NO.
Because it’s not about the Birth Certificate…it’s about him being a Black Man.
PERIOD.
And, once that poll is released that reveals that POTUS even releasing the Birth Certificate doesn’t make a DAMN BIT OF DIFFERENCE WITH THESE PEOPLE…
The albatross that is the Birthers will be hung around the GOP going into 2012 like an anvil.
PS-all I know is that I better be able to look up EVERY LAST GOP PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE’S LONG FORM BIRTH CERTIFICATE.
A question here ----where is the opposition from the CBC Members from Michigan? Why aren't they on tv talking about this?
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Rachel Maddow has done a yoeman's job in trying to be the town crier on the violence against communities that is resulting from the Financial Martial Law Passed in Michigan.
Here is a piece on a school in Detroit, a school that sends its graduates - teenaged mothers - onto college.
Rachel said this towards the end of the story : "What is new here is that this state has decided that local elections, locally elected officials are a problem that has to be done away with, that democracy is in the way of fixing problems in the United States now, of making things more efficient, particularly in poor places. Not that democracy is the way we fix problems but that democracy is the problem and it therefore needs to be sidestepped for efficiency sake, for our own good. Governor knows best.
"The point here, what makes Benton Harbor a national story and Katherine Ferguson Academy a national story is that the whole idea of choice for them anymore is purely hypothetical. The state has chosen for them. And that they've got is, frankly, that aforementioned dictator. Their hope -- their one hope -- is the dictator is benevolent.
"Is that how we think problems should get solved in America now?"
From my days as a school kid I remember the original debate over creating Medicare. At the time, my dad -- a small-town doctor and at that stage a conservative -- was, like most doctors and the AMA as a whole, strongly against the plan, as a step toward "socialized medicine." After all, when his patients couldn't pay, he found ways to reduce or forgive their fees. The opposing argument, which in the long run convinced nearly everyone (including the AMA, and my father) was that leaving older people exposed to the threat of open-ended and potentially ruinous medical expenses, or dependent on individual doctors' charity, was harmful all around.
Controlling the open-endedness of medical spending is of course a major public and private challenge. To repeat: "bending the curve" of health-care expenses is absolutely necessary. But until recently it had been taken as settled wisdom, on both policy and political grounds, that insuring people against the risk of complete financial ruin from late-in-life medical expenses left everyone better off. Old people, their families, doctors and the medical system too. Our health care system is out-of-control and unsustainable in countless ways. But very rarely has anyone argued that removing universal coverage for older people would make things better rather than worse.
Karl Rove: I Tried To Offer Trump A Way Out Of The Birther Talk
Karl Rove, among the big name conservatives who are openly hostile to Donald Trump's birther-centric sort of-presidential campaign, apparently tried to give Trump a rhetorical way out of his talk about President Obama's birth certificate.
On Fox News on Monday, Rove described how Trump apparently took the advice to heart -- and then immediately ignored it.
It's the latest round of the war of words between Trump and Rove, which kicked off when Rove told Fox that Trump was "joke candidate."
Then there was Michele Bachmann on Good Morning America being cornered on the birther issue, trying to be too cute by half, and George S did his job and cornered her.
Bachmann Gets Cornered On Birtherism: 'Move On, End Of Story' (VIDEO)
In an interview with George Stephanopoulos on Good Morning America, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) tried to hedge on the matter of birtherism -- using the line used by some Republicans who fall short of fully endorsing the conspiracy theory, while saying that Obama should just release his birth certificate (which he already did three years ago). To which George Stephanopoulos answered: Obama has released his birth certificate -- and here it is.
During the interview, Stephanopoulos asked Bachmann about how a prominent supporter of hers in Iowa has introduced a "birther bill" in the state legislature, which would require presidential candidates to supply their birth certificates to the state.
"Well, Governor Jan Brewer just vetoed that bill in Arizona," said Bachman, "because she felt that that was a bridge too far -- that it wouldn't be up to the authenticators in each state to do that, that that would be a federal issue. There is a federal piece of legislation that hasn't gone anywhere that would also require that candidates put forward their birth certificate. I have no problem giving my birth certificate, it wouldn't bother me at all. I've got one, its authenticated, take it."
"Well, but so does the president," Stephanopoulos replied.
"According to the bill a candidate for president or vice president shall attach to and file with the affidavit a copy of the candidate's birth certificate certified by the appropriate official in the candidate's state of birth.'
"That's right," said Bachmann.
"Well I have the president's certificate right here," Stephanopoulos replied. "It's certified, it's got a certification number, it's got the registrar of the state, signed. It's got a seal on it. And it says: 'This copy serves as prima facie evidence of the fact of birth in any court proceeding.'"
"Well, then that should settle it," said Bachmann. She added: "That's what should settle it. I take the president at his word and I think -- again I would have no problem and apparently the president wouldn't, either. Introduce that, we're done. Move on, end of story."
But, according to Lawrence O'Donnell, she was back to trying to be too cute by half about the Birther Issue, once she was on Fox Noise later on that day, as discussed in this video.
So, why, if Bachmann is all big and bad, didn't she stick up for the Birthers on ' mainstream' tv?
Because, as the O'Donnell piece said....that birther mess doesn't play well, with the folks who consider themselves SANE in this country.
Simply put, it doesn't play well with INDEPENDENT VOTERS.
But, here's the thing...
After spending 2 years flaming the fans of this idiocy.
Of doing a ' wink wink, nudge nudge' to these folks..
Always doing to hairsplit, or the bullshyt ' I take the President at his word'...
NEVER being willing to call these lunatics out when given the chance in ' mainstream' press...
ALWAYS HEDGING around condemning them for what they are...
SUDDENLY, it's a Presidential Election Year, and you can't win elections with 'just the base'. You win elections with Independents....and they think this shyt is CRAZY.
But, NOW....they're tying to shove the Birthers into the basement...trying to say that it's just a 'fringe group'.
Poll: Nearly Half Of Republicans Think Obama Wasn't Born In U.S.
The belief that President Obama was not born in America may seem like a fringe issue, but within the Republican party, the view is fairly mainstream.
In a New York Times/CBS poll released on Thursday, a 45% plurality of Republican adults said they believe Obama was not born in the U.S. Additionally, 33% said Obama was born in America, while 22% said they weren't sure.
That result is on par with a February PPP poll in which 51% of Republican voters thought Obama wasn't born in the U.S., while 28% said he was.
Since when is 45%, 51%...or the recent poll that showed 48% of Iowa Republicans were Births...
' SMALL NUMBERS'
45....48....51....
Out of 100?
Small numbers?
HELL NO.
The core of the Republican Party chooses to believe in the farce that the President wasn't born in the United States.
Now, you know I don't believe that these folks actually believe this nonsense.
They want to say.... I can't believe this NIGGER was elected President of the United States..
But, if they do, they will be seen in the same light as the woman who sent the monkey email this week.
That's what they want to say...
So, they hide behind the FRAUD that is the Birther issue. And, the 'ESTABLISHMENT' GOP, which had done nothing to discourage it from November 5, 20008 until now....sees that they look like they are being run by lunatics...and want to put a polite face on it, by trying to shove it under the carpet. You had the likes of Ann Coulter talking about ' of course, the President was born here'. They're trying to deflect what they have fomented, and I say HELL NO to them being able to disentangle themselves from the Birthers..
BIRTHERS=REPUBLICAN PARTY
to the CORE.
What worries the GOP in this election year?
Independents like this that I found on another site:
You were writing of how insidious the birther problem is for the Republicans, crawling and taking root across their membership like kudzu, in their attempts to deny legitimacy to Barack Obama. And all it's done for me (and I'd venture a good percentage of all Independents) is to deny legitimacy to the Republican party.
They played with this. They indulged it. They poured resources into the tawdry pols who would smile upon it, or insinuate it when they weren't downright trumpeting it from their podiums and microphones. They chose to do this and then realized that they might have a little problem with this parasitic thing that they seeded.
And it's their problem. To vote for them would make it mine. No thank you.
There is no policy idea or politician they can shine up that would appeal to me at this point, because they have taken their party right into the dirt with this birther business. Those who didn't participate also didn't make efforts to put a stop to it. Those would divest themselves of responsibility now are the worst culprits of all. If you dabble with racism - then you are a racist.
And last time I checked? You don't win elections without Independents. This Independent is done with them. You might as well ask me to vote for the Klan.
I was on a conference call on repealing SB 5 recently.
SB 5 is the union-busting law promoted and signed by a former Fox News personality, Ohio Governor John Kasich. The repeal effort will be led by We Are Ohio, if you’d like to be a part of it.
Conservative ballot initiatives get all the attention, but these things can be used for good or evil. Former President Bush and the Republican Party put anti-marriage equality measures on state ballots in 2004. These were cynically designed to bring out a wave of voters who vehemently oppose certain people they don’t know marrying certain other people they don’t know. That was a huge victory for Republicans. I’m sure former President Bush looks back with pride on how he engineered a multistate strategy to codify discrimination into state law because the GOP couldn’t drag his sorry ass over the finish line without it. That example of bold principled conservatism lives on in the Ohio constitution, even today. It will be fun to point that out again and again as public opinion continues to shift toward marriage equality.
That’s Republicans, and while they’ve had their wins on ballot measures, don’t forget that Democrats and labor won big in 2006 with state ballot initiatives to raise the minimum wage. Raising the minimum wage is still paying dividends for low-wage workers in Ohio.
A side benefit of the minimum wage fight in Ohio was we all got to watch (then) Senator Mike DeWine, who voted against an increase in the minimum wage 9 times in Congress, suddenly change his mind when he saw raising it polled at 80%.
DeWine lost the 2006 Senate race despite his last minute desperate conversion to populism, and Sherrod Brown won.
You never know how these things ripple.
You gotta fight.
Get those petitions.
Take them to church. Take them to the barber shop. The Beauty Shop. Take them to family gatherings.
Here's the latest bit of Voter Suppression from the GOP...this time in KANSAS:
Voter ID now Kansas law Posted: April 18, 2011 - 3:49pm By Tim Carpenter THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL
Gov. Sam Brownback made a fixture of Kansas politics Monday requirements voters present proof of citizenship and photograph affirmation of their identity as the price of participating in elections.
The measures were long championed by conservatives who expressed apprehension that unauthorized voters were distorting elections through fraudulent means. The rules could spark a legal challenge from voters who feel disenfranchised by the new hurdles to electoral participation.
"I think these are reasonable steps to protect the rights of our citizens," Brownback said at the Statehouse.
Brownback long ago endorsed the voter ID and citizenship provisions incorporated into House Bill 2067.
Secretary of State Kris Kobach is credited with raising profile of the issue during his successful campaign in 2010. He said the Kansas legislation uniquely combined picture IDs for in-person voting, photo and signature security protections for advance balloting and proof of citizenship.
"No other state in the union does as much to secure the integrity of the voting process," Kobach said. "If you want the Cadillac of voter security, the Kansas model is the way to go."
The photo ID requirement will take effect Jan. 1.
Starting in 2013, anyone registering to vote for the first time in Kansas will have to provide proof of their U.S. citizenship, such as a birth certificate or passport, though a Kansas driver's license could suffice for many.
This is all about VOTER SUPPRESSION - PLAIN AND SIMPLE. Right in time for the 2012 election.
Monday, April 18, 2011 Obama Is Now and Will Be a Great President
The "disappointed" left says president Obama sold out. The racist-laced Medicaid-mugging, billionaire-codling right staggers under the weight of terminal "birther" mythology (now trumpeted by moron-come-lately Donald Trump). Meanwhile president Obama continues to bide his time and looks down the road to the post-2012 reality when his patience with an impatient country, his thoughtfulness in the context of a sound-bite-entertain-ourselves-to-death era of short attention spans and historical amnesia will be vindicated.
If you think that president Obama played the Republicans in the last lame duck congress like a violin just wait until after 2012 when the rotten Tea Party will be about as relevant as 1930s hate monger radio priest: Charles Coughlin (the "father" of hate radio), is today.
President Obama has met the vile far right (and religious right lynch mob) and also met the disappointment of the shrill impatient left with a calm smile and good humor. He's even reached out to what remains of the Republican Party languishing hock deep in the quagmire of their own frightened and wholly imagined paranoid "victim" status. President Obama has also played chicken with each new crisis and -- invariably -- pulled last moment hair raising victory from what critics said would be defeat...
Before he'd served a year president Obama lost the support of the easily distracted (bitter?) left of the Left and also became the target for the white hot rage of the hate-filled right of the Right. But some of us, from all walks of life and ideological backgrounds are sticking with our president.
I happen to be a white fifty-eight-year-old former Republican. In my new book I explain why I left (fled!) the right and religious right movement my family helped found Sex, Mom and God: How the Bible's Strange Take on Sex Led to Crazy Politics--and How I Learned to Love Women (and Jesus) Anyway. (In this book I deconstruct evangelical "thinking" about politics and the Bible in a way that I hope entertainingly exposes the religion-created sexual dysfunction that has been the only actual motivating factor for the so called culture wars.)
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How about this: Given the racist state of American politics and the lack of steadfast lefty support not to mention morale-destroying lefty jilted lover carping (and the critique-for-profit members of the left who now define themselves by opposition to president Obama and thus have their egos tied to presidential “failure”), and the hate-filled mythology of the right, president Obama has done incredibly well to get anything done at all.
Maybe there are some on the left who (besides selling anti-Obama screeds) suffer from some sort of psychological problem of denial and are unable to deal with the reality of what America has become and actually is: A place where progressive ideas are routinely crushed beneath the weight of the corporate state and entrenched bigotry. But THAT reality is where president Obama must function.
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President Obama also keeps proving that compared to the talking-heads he knows how to get things done that actually change lives and matter-- health care reform, gay rights (instead of mere slogans), actual education reform, ending a war, restoring America's image worldwide.
We Americans are very lucky people. A sane and compassionate president is in charge. Over an 8 year period he will change American history for the better. Only president Obama's dimwitted and/or hate-filled opponents are unlucky: they are betting against a political genius who also happens to be a very good human being.
Read the article in its entirety at the link above.
The President gave a speech today and he took it to Rep. Paul ' I WANNA KILL MEDICARE AND MEDICAID' Ryan and the GOP. He hung Ryan and his plan around their neck like a noose.
Part of the President's Speech:
It’s a vision that says America can’t afford to keep the promise we’ve made to care for our seniors. It says that ten years from now, if you’re a 65 year old who’s eligible for Medicare, you should have to pay nearly $6,400 more than you would today. It says instead of guaranteed health care, you will get a voucher. And if that voucher isn’t worth enough to buy insurance, tough luck – you’re on your own. Put simply, it ends Medicare as we know it. This is a vision that says up to 50 million Americans have to lose their health insurance in order for us to reduce the deficit. And who are those 50 million Americans? Many are someone’s grandparents who wouldn’t be able afford nursing home care without Medicaid. Many are poor children. Some are middle-class families who have children with autism or Down’s syndrome. Some are kids with disabilities so severe that they require 24-hour care. These are the Americans we’d be telling to fend for themselves.
Worst of all, this is a vision that says even though America can’t afford to invest in education or clean energy; even though we can’t afford to care for seniors and poor children, we can somehow afford more than $1 trillion in new tax breaks for the wealthy. Think about it. In the last decade, the average income of the bottom 90% of all working Americans actually declined. The top 1% saw their income rise by an average of more than a quarter of a million dollars each. And that’s who needs to pay less taxes? They want to give people like me a two hundred thousand dollar tax cut that’s paid for by asking thirty three seniors to each pay six thousand dollars more in health costs? That’s not right, and it’s not going to happen as long as I’m President.
The fact is, their vision is less about reducing the deficit than it is about changing the basic social compact in America.
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The difference with the House Republican plan could not be clearer: their plan lowers the government’s health care bills by asking seniors and poor families to pay them instead. Our approach lowers the government’s health care bills by reducing the cost of health care itself. ... Let me be absolutely clear: I will preserve these health care programs as a promise we make to each other in this society. I will not allow Medicare to become a voucher program that leaves seniors at the mercy of the insurance industry, with a shrinking benefit to pay for rising costs. I will not tell families with children who have disabilities that they have to fend for themselves. We will reform these programs, but we will not abandon the fundamental commitment this country has kept for generations. That includes, by the way, our commitment to Social Security.
The Democrats need to take the points made by POTUS and run with them. Come on Congresswoman Wasserman-Shultz!!
60 Minutes' in-depth investigation into the unsolved Civil Rights-era killing of Louis Allen in Liberty, Mississippi, brought to life how troubling life can still be for many African Americans in the state and their pursuit of justice. From the files of the Mississippi Sovereignty Commission, here are links to files on the Louis Allen case. If you don't know, the MS Sovereignty Commission was the taxpayer-financed arm of the state that spied on people and watched and harassed "agitators" working for racial justice.
In the Allen case, it is likely the perpetrators remain hidden in plain view in Liberty, MS, but I could find no evidence that the state's attorney general, Jim Hood is investigating the case. Instead, I found an article touting his advocacy of a new execution drug. That's Mississippi-style progress.
The GOP has decided to attack Planned Parenthood, by absolutely LYING about the services given by Planned Parenthood.
HERE is a chart, outlining what Planned Parenthood does in this country. THIS is what they do.
Look at the graphic. Abortion services are WHAT PERCENT of what Planned Parenthood does?
THREE PERCENT.
THREE PERCENT.
So then, what about the other 97% of the services that they do.
Planned Parenthood is an invaluable resource for Women's Health in this country. For women who are uninsured, they provide a help to women who want to get medical screenings for women's health issues, including the different types of cancer that target women specifically.
I have been getting angry, reading clown upon clown, especially those Black Republican Clowns, who have praised the GOP's attempt to defund Planned Parenthood.
You are the party that doesn't give a rat's ass about getting healthcare for the uninsured of this country. The party of the only solution they have if you get sick and are uninsured is- 'Go to the Emergency Room'.
Yet, Planned Parenthood is there for these women.
Can you imagine what it's like to believe something's wrong with your breast and be uninsured in this country?
Planned Parenthood gives those women a place to go where they can get professional care with people who will take care of them and give them the answers that they need.
The GOP needs to get out of my body and my womb. These are fanatics who want control over women's bodies, and who not only object to abortion, but also object to the contraception aspect of Plannet Parenthood, because, heaven forbid, women would actually get to DECIDE FOR THEMSELVES if or when they wanted to have children. Don't believe me...do a little research. Yes, these misogynistic clowns are against birth control TOO.
In conclusion, I thought you needed to hear from someone who uses Planned Parenthood regularly and what it has meant to her life.
In this video, Lawrence O'Donnell then reads an email from a friend of his, who is poor, and who is also dependent on the affordable Services provided by Planned Parenthood, for among other things to keep her Cancer-free.
I already posted about the GOP Scam to DESTROY MEDICARE...
you didn't think Medicaid would be left untouched, did you?
Silly people.
Medicaid gets a bad rap, gutless politicians have let the right wing tar it as a program that only helps the undeserving poor Black and Brown children, and you know the Brown children are illegal...and cause they're poor, they're leeches, who shouldn't get any medical care, because after all, that's what emergency rooms are for.
Here's a graph of the actual breakdown in Medicaid Recipients and Medicaid funding:
Look....while the children are the highest % of enrollees, look at the % of DOLLARS that they take get from Medicaid. Children are behind the Disabled AND Elderly in how many dollars they get.
I've been talking about the little acknowledged secret about Medicaid for awhile now..
PERCENTAGE WISE- IN TERMS OF DOLLARS, LOOK AT IT...
MIDDLE CLASS FOLKS PUTTING MOM AND DAD IN NURSING HOMES.
The elderly get 2 and a half TIMES the money compared to their percentage of enrollees.
I can’t wait for all those Middle-Class White folks, especially those that voted GOP - from around the country to realize that the GOP is cutting off the money for Mom and Dad’s Nursing Home.
I say Middle-Class White folks, not to say that Middle-Class folks who aren’t White don’t use Medicaid for Mom and Dad’s Nursing Home, it’s just that the likelihood of them having the schizophrenia of voting for the people who would throw Mom and Dad out onto the street is just smaller….because they don’t live in the land of delusion where they believe that the GOP is NOT talking about them when they discuss ’ cuts’......and a whole lot of White Middle-Class and Working Class do.
And, only because I know that there are plenty of Senior Citizens who weren't stupid enough to believe the GOP Lies About OBAMACARES, well, here's the payback for your idiocy:
GOP Aim: Cut $4 Trillion Budget Plan Would Transform Medicare, Reset Budget Debate; Democrats Balk.
By NAFTALI BENDAVID Republicans will present this week a 2012 budget proposal that would cut more than $4 trillion from federal spending projected over the next decade and transform the Medicare health program for the elderly, a move that will dramatically reshape the budget debate in Washington.
The plan would essentially end Medicare, which now pays most of the health-care bills for 48 million elderly and disabled Americans, as a program that directly pays those bills. Mr. Ryan and other conservatives say this is necessary because of the program's soaring costs. Medicare cost $396.5 billion in 2010 and is projected to rise to $502.8 billion in 2016. At that pace, spending on the program would have doubled between 2002 and 2016.
Mr. Ryan's proposal would apply to those currently under the age of 55, and for those Americans would convert Medicare into a "premium support" system. Participants from that group would choose from an array of private insurance plans when they reach 65 and become eligible, and the government would pay about the first $15,000 in premiums. Those who are poorer or less healthy would receive bigger payments than others.
The proposal would also convert Medicaid, the health program for the poor, into a series of block grants to give states more flexibility. And it is expected to suggest significant cuts in Social Security, while proposing fewer details on how to achieve them.
The federal government expects to spend about $275 billion in 2011 on Medicaid, the program that provides medical care to the poor and disabled, up from $117.9 billion in 2000. The Congressional Budget Office projects Medicaid spending will roughly double by 2021.
Now, these mofos want to continue with their UNPAID TAX CUTS FOR THE RICH, but somehow, I'm supposed to just ' trust' them on GIVING VOUCHERS FOR MEDICARE?
Legislators: They. Are. For. Sale. By HOWARD TROXLER htroxler@sptimes.com
There is no state, no nation, no planet and no universe where it should be legal to pay off a Legislature directly. There is no government in which a sworn lawmaker should be able to take unlimited payoffs from those seeking favorable treatment.
And yet this is now precisely the law of Florida.
In an earlier column I called the Florida Legislature “the Whore of Babylon” for passing a law last week that legalizes its own bribery.
But the topic cries out not to be forgotten — because this is a turning point in the state of Florida’s history.
It is now legal in Florida for the leaders of our House and Senate, of both the Republican and Democratic parties, to operate what are laughably called “leadership funds.”
If you are an interest group in Florida, a corporation, a lobbyist seeking favor, you go to these “leadership” funds run by lawmakers
And you pay them.
They will launder the money into local elections around the state, to keep electing more obedient followers.
This is so astonishing a corruption that it defies belief.
The bill in question is House Bill 1207, passed in the 2010 legislative session.
Then-Gov. Charlie Crist vetoed it. Last Thursday the Legislature overrode the veto.
The House vote was 81-39. The Senate vote was 30-9.
The twisted logic used in the Capitol, and what your legislator will try to tell you, is that it’s better for the Legislature to be paid off directly.
See, they will write it down in a separate little report. So this is all about “informing the public” and “transparency.”
If they try to give you this line, just ask this question:
“So, is it legal to make unlimited payoffs to ‘leadership funds’ that are operated directly by the leaders of the Legislature, or not?”
Yes.
People ask: What can I do?
You can call or you can e-mail. You can go to the House’s website, www.myfloridahouse.com, or the Senate’s, www.flsenate.gov, and find contact information for your legislator. (However, I beg you to be firm but civil, especially to the hard-working staff — the world is rude enough already, isn’t it?)
But they are counting on you not to do anything at all.
Instead, here is what they are counting on you to do:
Reelect them.
Howard Troxler is a columnist for the St. Petersburg Times.
You know, this doesn't surprise me. Nothing they do surprises me anymore, but still, we must put it forth, because there are some out there with the utter delusion that the GOP is about anything other than being BOUGHT AND PAID FOR BY BIG BUSINESS. Yes, there are those delusional out there, and they are realizing it - the HARD WAY. You elect a STRAIGHT UP CROOK for Governor - what did you expect. This proposal was so repulsive that even the oil slick known as Charlie Crist had to veto it. I want to feel bad for you in Florida, I really do. But, sometimes, you get what you elect, and so, ELECTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES. Now that your state is up LITERALLY to the highest bidder....see what happens to you NOW.
"The two parties have combined against us to nullify our power by a ‘gentleman's agreement' of non-recognition, no matter how we vote ... May God write us down as asses if ever again we are found putting our trust in either the Republican or the Democratic Parties." -- W.E.B. DuBois (1922)
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