‘Right-wing media outlets have rushed to defend Gov. Rick Perry’s false claim that Social Security is a “Ponzi scheme.” In fact, experts agree that Social Security’s “structure, logic, and mode of operation have nothing in common with Ponzi schemes.”’
‘Note that a lot of the elderly investors who saw their money vanish in Madoff’s Ponzi scheme are going to be kept afloat in their old age by, yes, Social Security. That’s another difference: Ponzi schemes tend to be pretty unreliable. Social Security has been sending out checks without interruption for more than 70 years.’
(via Social Security vs. Ponzi schemes in one Venn diagram - Ezra Klein - The Washington Post)
‘Here’s a chance for some small measure of sanity to be introduced into the Catfood Commission II’s work, and the larger debate about deficits and the safety net, if Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) can get enough cosponsors and momentum behind his efforts.’
(via Daily Kos: Bernie Sanders goes against grain, introduces real plan to save Social Security)
‘Perry’s reading of the Constitution raises very serious questions about whether he understands the English language. The Constitution gives Congress the power to “to lay and collect taxes” and to “provide for the…general welfare of the United States.” No plausible interpretation of the words “general welfare” does not include programs that ensure that all Americans can live their entire lives secure in the understanding that retirement will not force them into poverty and untreated sickness. Moreover, Perry’s belief that Social Security and Medicare must cease to exist not only puts him well to the right of his fellow Republicans in Congress — who recently voted to gradually phase out Medicare — it also puts him at the rightward fringe of the GOP presidential field. Not even Michele Bachmann has gone on record claiming that America’s two most cherished programs for seniors violate the Constitution, although she did invite a Fox News analyst who shares Perry’s beliefs to lecture her fellow lawmakers on what the Constitution requires. When House Budget Chair Paul Ryan (R-WI) released the GOP’s plan to slowly eliminate Medicare, it was the most conservative budget proposal anyone had seriously considered in generations. Perry’s agenda, however, makes Paul Ryan look like Ted Kennedy.’
‘House Republicans continue to stonewall on revenues. But some Senate Republicans have signaled a willingness to cut special tax breaks and subsidies. And poll after poll has shown that vast majorities of Americans—in fact strong majorities of Republicans—support a balanced approach that includes cuts to spending programs and special tax breaks. It remains to be seen whether our political system will be able to produce the balanced result the American people clearly want.’
Women Hurt Most by Debt Deal Cuts to Medicare, Social Security, Tuition | Democracy Now!
via democracynow.org
The debt ceiling agreement reached this week by the White House and Congress could deal a serious blow to women’s well-being, according to leading women’s rights groups. The deal will potentially impose $1 trillion in cuts to programs that mostly serve and employ women, such as family planning clinics, food stamps, college tuition assistance and childcare. The National Organization for Women (NOW), the largest feminist organization in the country, called on President Obama to “stand up to the conservatives and Tea Party activists” and resist balancing the federal budget on the backs of the most vulnerable people in this country—namely women, and especially women of color. We speak with NOW President Terry O’Neill about the debt deal and how few women were involved in the negotiations. We also look at new federal guidelines requiring insurance companies to cover birth control with no copay, with some religious exemptions.
Nancy Pelosi: Speaker Boehner Chose To Go To The Dark Side (by NancyPelosi)
Leader Pelosi speaking on the House floor on Saturday, July 30th.
Transcript:
http://go.usa.gov/KcS
Eight False Things The Public “Knows” Prior To Election Day By Dave Johnson
(Note: The words that appear in red are links that you can click.)
There are a number things the public “knows” as we head into the election that are just false. If people elect leaders based on false information, the things those leaders do in office will not be what the public expects or needs.
Here are eight of the biggest myths that are out there:
1) President Obama tripled the deficit.
Reality: Bush’s last budget had a $1.416 trillion deficit. Obama’s first budget reduced that to $1.29 trillion.2) President Obama raised taxes, which hurt the economy.
Reality: Obama cut taxes. 40% of the “stimulus” was wasted on tax cuts which only create debt, which is why it was so much less effective than it could have been.3) President Obama bailed out the banks.
Reality: While many people conflate the “stimulus” with the bank bailouts, the bank bailouts were requested by President Bush and his Treasury Secretary, former Goldman Sachs CEO Henry Paulson. (Paulson also wanted the bailouts to be “non-reviewable by any court or any agency.”) The bailouts passed and began before the 2008 election of President Obama.4) The stimulus didn’t work.
Reality: The stimulus worked, but was not enough. In fact, according to the Congressional Budget Office, the stimulus raised employment by between 1.4 million and 3.3 million jobs.5) Businesses will hire if they get tax cuts.
Reality: A business hires the right number of employees to meet demand. Having extra cash does not cause a business to hire, but a business that has a demand for what it does will find the money to hire. Businesses want customers, not tax cuts.6) Health care reform costs $1 trillion.
Reality: The health care reform reduces government deficits by $138 billion.7) Social Security is a Ponzi scheme, is “going broke,” people live longer, fewer workers per retiree, etc.
Reality: Social Security has run a surplus since it began, has a trust fund in the trillions, is completely sound for at least 25 more years and cannot legally borrow so cannot contribute to the deficit (compare that to the military budget!) Life expectancy is only longer because fewer babies die; people who reach 65 live about the same number of years as they used to.8) Government spending takes money out of the economy.
Reality: Government is We, the People and the money it spends is on We, the People. Many people do not know that it is government that builds the roads, airports, ports, courts, schools and other things that are the soil in which business thrives. Many people think that all government spending is on “welfare” and “foreign aid” when that is only a small part of the government’s budget.This stuff really matters.
If the public votes in a new Congress because a majority of voters think this one tripled the deficit, and as a result the new people follow the policies that actually tripled the deficit, the country could go broke.
If the public votes in a new Congress that rejects the idea of helping to create demand in the economy because they think it didn’t work, then the new Congress could do things that cause a depression.
If the public votes in a new Congress because they think the health care reform will increase the deficit when it is actually projected to reduce the deficit, then the new Congress could repeal health care reform and thereby make the deficit worse. And on it goes.
I understand the conservative arguments & perspective against the current administration & congress, though I do not agree with them. I find it hard to understand the liberal / progressive arguments & perspective against Obama, Reid, & Pelosi, except that I share a healthy sense of frustration & impatience with the rate of change & progress. Like Dr. Cornel West so eloquently put it, what is Obama doing for the working poor & unemployed in America today? That being said, going back to a Republican-controlled congress in 2010 & presidency in 2012 is a very scary thing to me. Whomever controls the presidency controls the future of the Supreme Court, & we have ample evidence what the activist wing of the Roberts court feels about corporate personhood & transparency in elections. So, what to do? I for one am not going to throw my vote away on a third party candidate until we live in a parliamentary government in which there are more than two main power-brokering parties. Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders is probably my favorite senator, yet he caucuses with the Democrats & is essentially a Democratic Socialist supporter of the Democratic Party, which I would like to think of myself as too. In any case, I am going to vote for the Democratic candidate in my house district & for governor on Nov. 2, 2010. I am sure that there are several Democratic candidates around the country who do not deserve anyone’s vote, but as far as I can tell in my situation, the Democrats are the best option available.
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