Leave it to the Republican Party, and particularly its Tea Party extremists, to propose, as part of the House of Representatives budget proposals, to raise the eligibility age for future retirees for Medicare and Social Security benefits.
Presently, one must be 65 to gain Medicare, and the proposal is to raise it to 67!
Presently, one must be 67 to gain Social Security full benefits for future retirees, and the proposal is to raise it to 70!
This is pure right wing radicalism, by a party which overwhelmingly, in its past, opposed both Medicare in the 1960s and Social Security in the 1930s, when they were first made law!
These two programs are the most popular social programs, brought to America by the Democratic Party under Lyndon B. Johnson and Franklin D. Roosevelt, and have had a lot to do with the growth of the middle class and a sense of security for the elderly!
Instead of raising the Medicare tax slightly, and raising the limit on Social Security to at least $250,000 income, instead of $117,000, insuring the viability of these programs long term, instead the GOP wishes to make life harder for those nearing retirement age, forcing many to work longer years full time, rather than having some time to enjoy life and take life easier after decades of toil, many of them often working at low wages, exploited by corporations and employers in general, who have an anti labor attitude!
This is an issue for the midterm elections of 2014 and beyond, that under no circumstances will there be a radical change in Medicare and Social Security allowed, because of the greed, selfishness, and lack of concern for the average American by the elite upper class that votes Republican, and victimizes the rest of the population!
Yes, Republican Party / Tea Party Extremists = Workung Middle Class quality of life down grading.
This one was written within the first couple of years of the W. Bush Adminstration.
“Man’s Evolution into Extinction”
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Man will evolve into extinction,
Destruction of his own kind.
All in the name of progress,
With promises that all will be fine.
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Corporations are leading the way,
Too much money to be made.
Marketing and misleading facts,
Are the tools of their trade.
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To set up manufacturing facilities
On foreign countries’ shores.
All this takes a lot of money,
Multi-nationals need tax breaks galore,
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The facts of responsible citizenship,
Will just have to be ignored.
So funding of the tax burden,
Is all just dumped on the poor.
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You start by buying elected governments,
And sponsor media shows.
Touting slanted information to the public,
Their reality is all you are to know.
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Soon you hear the mindless say,
“I’m a Conservative,†while sucking down a beer.
Sitting there watching TV in a tee shirt,
Paying their entire medical, on $35,000 per year.
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Are the masses too dumb to recognize,
They are listening to infomercial shows?
Over dominate, obnoxious, gas bags,
On blowhard radio.
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There is no global warming,
As you watch the ice sheets flow?
Chunks the size of a large land mass,
Into the ocean they go.
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Don’t try for alternative energy,
Just keep drilling into the ground.
Keep the servitude grip on the public,
There is always more oil to be found.
If your armaments sales are sloping down,
Your purchased government can start a war.
It’s the little people’s sons and daughters,
Death and mutilation, it’s their burden for sure.
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So the temperature is rising,
Never have the levels been this high.
Big deal, we are losing record species,
Who gives a damn, let them die.
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So long as CEO’s record salaries,
Are based on numbers neither fact nor true.
Twenty thousand times a working man’s wage,
Reality is what they’ll decide for you.
Engineer, I love your poetry. Another example of how brilliant you really are! Thanks!