A letter to President Obama

Dear Mr. President,

On November 6, 2012 you made history and I helped you, as I did in 2008. But this time I expect more. 

I don't want to see a grand bargain that includes you selling out the people who elected you. The election really was a clear choice and voters said, we want a government that helps us up, rather than shuts us out.

I voted for you because you are supposed to support and defend the things Democrats believe in, like Pell Grants, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. You are supposed to keep our environment clean and safe from people who want to pollute it for profit.

Now is your time to prove that you will not bend to the will of the losing party. America does indeed want to move forward.

So, Mr. President, stick to your guns and break the gridlock because the best way to tame a spoiled child is to simply say no.

• ·       No to cuts in Social Security and the chained CPI index.

• ·       No to education cuts.

• ·       No to Medicare and Medicaid cuts

• ·       No to more tax cuts for the rich

And most importantly, say no to John Boehner and his Tea Party caucus. Just because they refuse to listen to the voice of voters doesn't mean you should go along for the ride.

Image: Wiki file

If you think you're not a liberal, think again

During the health care reform debate in 2009, opponents of what is now commonly called Obamacare, called the new law socialism. Political pundits will never forget images of anti-Obama, Tea Party supporters carrying signs that said, keep your government hands off my Medicare.

But many of the people protesting against government control of Medicare didn't know that it was and always had been a government-controlled program.

Even today, many of the people receiving Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security benefits insist that they are not getting any government assistance, according to polling data.

How can so many people be convinced of something that is so completely false?

Read the full story here....

Does Glorida Steinem know what the Republicans really want?

On Friday, author and policical activist, Gloria Steinem appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher. Her insights into the goals of the Republican Party were insightful and perhaps frightening. Steinem suggests that the GOP, fueled by the recent surge in Tea Party conservatism, is all about selling-off the America piece by piece to corporations.

There is substantial evidence to support her views on the corporate takeover of America. What immediately comes to mind is Social Security. Under the Bush Administration, republicans tried to push through legislation that would have handed over Social Security to Wall Street, as they have done since the 1960’s. And their efforts continue to this day.

In October 2010, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told the Huffington Post, "Instead of helping seniors, Republicans, backed by their allies on Wall Street, are threatening to privatize and cut Social Security, just as they tried to do under President Bush."

Privatizing Social Security would give the corporations administering the fund the ability to subtract their fees from retirement accounts. According to US Government actuarial data, less than 1% of the money collected currently goes toward administration. If Wall Street took over the program, that number would rise because charging fees are how the corporations would generate their profits, thus reducing the benefits to program recipients. With privatization, every American worker that was paying into Social Security would be forced to pay commissions to the Wall Street firms that were handling the accounts.

The republicans are not likely to explain the details on how privatizing Social Security would really work. The financial collapse of 2008 left most Americans with a highly unfavorable view of Wall Street money management.

As Steinem pointed out, the programs that republicans want to take off the government books, were “bought and paid for by the American taxpayers.”

Giving taxpayer funded programs to Wall Street does not end with Social Security. Every piece of land or national park owned by the federal government that could be opened up to oil drilling or other corporate-profit use would be yet another affront on the rights of Americans to influence the future of their country.

If the republicans fulfilled their entire wish list for America, much of it would be turned over to, run, and owned by corporations.

With labor unions currently under attack in Wisconsin, Indiana, New Jersey and Ohio, and the rollback of safety regulations on the budget-cut table, it may not be long before America is reduced to an oligarchy, and the U.S. Constitution becomes nothing more than a worthless piece of paper.

Tax cuts for millionaires: The Obama sellout of the middle class

Image via WikipediaPoliticians are very good at taking something simple and making it complicated. They are proving that now with the debate over tax cuts for the rich. The Republican argument calls allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire an increase that would slow economic recovery. In fact, it would raise taxes by about 3% on the wealthiest Americans.

The problem with the Republican argument is that millionaires are not the ones suffering in the slow economy; the poor, the unemployed and the middle class are. For corporations and the super-rich who use loopholes to avoid paying taxes, 3% of nothing is still nothing. Now factor in the US debt, which is admittedly unsustainable at 14 trillion dollars and growing.

Does it make sense to subsidize millionaires with borrowed money?

The Republican solution to America’s debt is to squeeze the middle class by cutting away the safety nets of programs like Social Security, Medicare, and Food Stamps. These programs help maintain the middle class, provide health care to the elderly, and keep people from starving. Any desire to slash these programs raises the question; what kind of America are the Republicans trying to create?

Instead of moving America forward, the GOP seems determined to move her backward. Instead of introducing new legislation, they want to repeal health care reform and roll back entitlements for senior citizens and the poor, to fund tax breaks for millionaires. Something is wrong with this picture.
There is a simple, however politically impossible solution: Raise the tax rate on millionaires to 40%, and eliminate 90% of corporate tax loopholes; tax incomes between $500,000 and $1,000,000 at 38%. If you earn between $150,000 and $499,000, you pay 35%; Wage earners of $50,000 to 149,900 will pay 30%; and completely eliminate taxes for everyone who earns less than $50,000 a year.

The revenue generated by closing tax loopholes for corporations and millionaires alone would go a long way toward reducing the national debt. Giving people who earn less than $50,000 a year a tax-free ride would give them more disposable income, which they will spend. Spending creates demand and grows the economy.

Unfortunately, there isn’t a politician in Washington today who would dare make such a proposal. By simplifying the tax code and eliminating most corporate loopholes, lawmakers would lose too much of their leverage for enticing big-money campaign donations and manipulating economic markets.

America is for sale and the wealthy are buying themselves tax breaks. So even through the US has a new party leading Congress, nothing has really changed.

Related articles

• Nancy Pelosi And Harry Reid: Passing Middle-Class Tax Cuts Is A Top Priority (huffingtonpost.com)

GOP plan to privatize Social Security gives US retirement future to Wall Street gamblers

Image via Wikipedia
Social Security is one of the most popular programs in America. Yet the GOP and Tea Party conservatives want to hand it over to Wall Street so it can become a profit generator for corporate gambling. No doubt the idea is being funded by lobbyists looking for easy money with loads and fees they can put on taxpayers' tabs. Why else would there be such a hard push to dismantle one of the most efficiently administrated government programs America has?

Out of every dollar that Social Security takes in, only .09 cents goes toward running the program. If Wall Street takes over, those costs will become fees of 5%, according to MSNBC.

Former president George W. Bush suggested privatizing Social Security in 2005. When the financial markets collapsed in 2008, retirement plans and 401K’s crashed along with the rest of the stock market, and millions were relieved that the Bush plan never went through. If it had, retired Americans might have lost their monthly checks entirely. Is this the path America really wants to take? Or do people simply not realize just how high the stakes are in giving Social Security to Wall Street?

People were outraged when CEO’s at taxpayer bailed-out financial institutions gave themselves multi-million dollar bonuses with TARP funds. Do they really want to give them even bigger bonuses with loads and fees tacked on to Wall Street controlled Social Security, or has anyone in favor of the GOP plan to privatize America’s future thought about that one?