Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell love Donald Trump. Why? He is a distraction. While they machinate to create an Ayn Randian society by methodically working towards cutting your Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, the Trump clown cart keeps the mainstream media hyperventilating on side issues, those that have little to do with our well being.
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan recently said that they are going to have to tackle entitlement reform to bring down the debt and deficit. These deceivers just gave away the house with their tax cut scam to the wealthy and corporations and now want to pay for it on the backs of the working class, those that have paid into Social Security and Medicaid for decades, and by starving the poor, they’ve created with trickle-down economic policies.
Bloggers, independent media, and activists would be just as negligent as a vast segment of the mainstream media if they did not begin screaming at the top of their virtual lungs to ensure Americans know that Republicans are playing them.
It starts with the name they use for these programs. They call them entitlements. The idea is to make most believe that it is some giveaway, something some are entitled to without having to work for it. Do not buy into that false premise. These programs compliment an economic system incapable of supporting all of its people. Our taxes are supposed to be the avenue to even out the aberrations of our economy.
The reality is that we need to revamp our economic system completely. But until then we must extract from all who participate in this human-made economy, mostly from those who afford themselves ill-gotten gains. In other words, we must tax the hell out of people like stockbrokers, bankers, and traders who produce nothing valuable to the economic system comparatively.
Robert Reich wrote a vital piece titled “The Next Big Fight.”
Social Security and Medicare are critical safety-nets for working and middle-class families. Before they existed, Americans faced grim prospects. In 1935, the year Social Security was enacted, roughly half of America’s seniors lived in poverty. By the 1960s poverty among seniors had dropped significantly, but medical costs were still a major financial burden and only half of Americans aged 65 and over had health insurance. Medicare fixed that, guaranteeing health care for older Americans.
Today less than 10 percent of seniors live in poverty and almost all have access to health care. According to an analysis of census data, Social Security payments keep an estimated 22 million Americans from slipping into poverty. Medicaid is also a vital lifeline for America’s elderly and the poor. Yet the Trump administration has already started whittling it away by encouraging states to impose work requirements on Medicaid recipients.
He also provided the solution to fix these safety net programs; Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
- Lift the ceiling on income subject to the Social Security tax.
- Allow Medicare to negotiate with drug companies for lower prescription drug prices.
- Reduce overall health costs and create a stronger workforce by making Medicare available to all.
This not rocket science when one views it through the lens of caring for your fellow human being. When one, however, is selfish and focused on maximizing wealth for a few they perceive as more deserving or entitled, selfish and inhumane policies become the norm.