Medicare

Rick Scott, Ron Johnson And The Entire Republican Party Want To Take Away Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Veterans Benefits!

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The Republican Party is making it very clear to anyone who has a brain!

THey are against basic programs that Americans rely on, and have had for many decades!

Florida Senator Rick Scott and Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson are leading the charge to end Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Veterans Benefits over a five year period!

But it is not just these two Senators, but the reality is that the party philosophy never liked what Franklin D. Roosevelt (the New Deal) and Lyndon B. Johnson (The Great Society) did, anymore than willing to accept the Affordable Care Act of President Barack Obama!

So the answer is to war on the Republican Party, which has gone too far to the far Right, including wanting to force women to have every pregnancy to term!

This is a battle for the future of America, and there can be no prisoners, just victories!

Republicans At It Again: Out To Destroy Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid!

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The Republican Party at large, since the 1930s and Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal, have tried to destroy Social Security.

The Republican Party at large, since the 1960s and Lyndon B. Johnson and the Great Society, have tried to destroy Medicare and Medicaid.

Individual Republicans have not followed the party lead over the years, but substantially even in 2022, most Republicans want to cut and destroy these programs, which have done so much for the middle and lower classes.

So the battle is on for the midterms, to insure that these programs promoted by FDR and LBJ, are not undermined!

Republican Party Claims To Be Party Of Life, While It Is Instead Party Of Death!

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The Republican Party has, clearly, become the Party of Death, as they show no concern about the COVID 19 Pandemic, and the need to promote masking and vaccination, as more than 750,000 Americans have died from the virus!

The Republican Party also worships guns, and has worked against any kind of gun regulations, despite mass murders going on in schools, churches and synagogues, entertainment events, shopping centers, colleges and universities,and all other public venues.

Additionally, suicides have become endemic, with no concern about people with mental instability, and even children, having access to firearms, including AK 47s and AR 15s!

Also, the Republican Party has no concern about the poverty and deprivation of people who are not wealthy, and particularly so with racial and religious minorities, so we have single mothers who cannot provide adequately for their children!

Republicans also have always been against providing health care to those less fortunate, which demonstrates they do not value life! As a group, they have opposed Medicare and the Affordable Care Act!

Their only interest in “life” is that every fetus must be born, even if the pregnant woman was raped, or a victim of incest, and there is no concern about the dangers to the life of the mother!

And of course, Republicans love the death penalty, even though it is often misused, and particularly against males of color on a much higher scale than whites!

And Republicans love to support wars, as long as it is primarily the poor and minorities who are “cannon fodder” for the “war machines”, and very few of them or their offspring ever serving in the military!

Medicare Expansion Crucial Part Of Social Infrastructure Legislation, Needs To Be Promoted By Democrats!

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The Democratic Party leadership needs to do a real promotion of Medicare expansion, which would encourage older people to vote Democratic in the 2022 Midterm Elections.

If left to Republicans, there would be the end of Medicare, passed under Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965, and the Affordable Care Act (Obama Care), passed under Barack Obama in 2010.

It is time to lower the Medicare eligible age to 60, and to provide senior citizens with dental care, vision care, and hearing coverage!

There are aspects of the Social Infrastructure proposal that may not be possible to accomplish, but this portion of the expansion under consideration is essential, and would be politically a winner!

56th Anniversary Of Medicare And Medicaid: A Salute To Lyndon B. Johnson And The Great Society!

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The nation is celebrating the 56th Anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid, a time to salute President Lyndon B. Johnson and the Great Society of the 1960s.

It is impossible to imagine how much worse off this nation would be if Johnson had not used his powers of “Wheeling and Dealing” to accomplish the health care legislation which has saved millions of American lives in the past half century, and made the lives of the elderly, the disabled, and the poor far better.

Government is not there just for the wealthy to get tax breaks, but also to serve the needs of the American people, and it is soothing to know how much Medicare and Medicaid have changed the lives of the American people.

Along with Social Security, passed into law under Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal in 1935, Medicare and Medicaid have transformed lives over the decades, despite the naysayers, mostly conservatives and Republicans, who love to call these laws “Socialism”!

If these transformational legislative achievements are “Socialism”, so be it!

Past Bipartisan Actions: Can This Happen Again As Joe Biden Hopes For, Or Is This A Mirage?

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In the past, despite political party conflict on beliefs and principles, we saw bipartisan actions and crossing party lines to accomplish major goals.

Here are four examples of such situations since World War II where a President of one party and a Congressional leader of the opposition party cooperated, and brought along other votes from their party to back the President of the opposition party.

When Democratic President Harry Truman was in office, and the Cold War with the Soviet Union was evolving, Truman was able to gain key Republican support from the Republican Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in the 80th Congress, Senator Arthur Vandenberg of Michigan, for the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan in 1947-1948.

When Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower was in office, he was able to work cooperatively with the Democratic leaders of both houses of Congress from 1955-1961 on many matters. Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn and Senate Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson, both from Texas, worked across the party lines in many situations, particularly on the first Civil Rights Acts (1957 and 1960) since Reconstruction after the Civil War.

When Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson was in office, he was able to gain support of Republican Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirksen of Illinois on gaining necessary support on the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and Medicare passage in 1965.

When Republican President Ronald Reagan was in office, he was able to come to an agreement with Democratic Speaker of the House Thomas “Tip” O’Neill to protect Social Security long term by a bipartisan agreement in 1983.

Since the 1990s and the hardline partisanship of the Republican Party and then Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich in the Republican Revolution of 1994, we have seen unwillingness by that party to have any willingness to cross party lines, and his early efforts were also pursued by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell right up to the present!

So President Elect Joe Biden’s publicly expressed hopes for bipartisan actions in these disastrous times to be accomplished, is it a mirage? We shall find out soon!

Kamala Harris Main Arguments To Use Against Mike Pence In VP Debate On Wednesday Evening

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Arguably the most important Vice Presidential debate since the first one in 1976 is taking place this Wednesday in Salt Lake City, Utah, when Vice President Mike Pence confronts California Senator Kamala Harris.

The possibility of a female Vice President in the next Presidential term heightens interest in this debate between a Vice President who has been unwilling to express his own views with his President, by every measure we have; and a Senator, who headed the Justice system of the state with one eighth of the American people residing, in California.

Kamala Harris needs to address major issues with Mike Pence, and if necessary, be persistent!

These include:

Why are you NOT asserting yourself in this COVID 19 crisis, and allowing Trump family members to run rampant over your responsibility to the nation to invoke the 25th Amendment?

Why are you not emphasizing masks, social distancing, and avoiding large rallies on your own part?

Why have you not condemned white nationalism groups, including QAnon and “Proud Boys”?

Why do you refuse to resist the policy of favoritism toward Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, and other dictators, and the worsening relations of the nation with NATO, Canada, Japan, and South Korea?

Why do you show no concern about the immediate loss of health care for 20 million or more people, especially in the midst of a world wide pandemic?

How do you explain all of the failures of Trump, including on;

the Mexico wall:

no health care alternative and plans to gut Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security;

the inhumane treatment of immigrant children and their parents at the border;

the widespread corruption of Trump Cabinet officers and others;

Trump’s failure to match Barack Obama’s economic recovery; Trump’s constant attacks on veterans, Muslims, the disabled, and those who have died, including John McCain, and lack of respect for Ruth Bader Ginsburg;

and so many other shortcomings?

Harris will perform very well, with compassion, concern, empathy, decency, ethics, morality and persistence in asserting herself, and this will make her an excellent and principled Vice President under a President Joe Biden, who has the same character traits as she does.

And if circumstance puts Kamala Harris into the Oval Office, the nation will be well served and be in competent hands!

Memo To American Jews Who Support Trump: You Are Overlooking History And Are Being Delusional!

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This author and blogger is proud of his Jewish heritage, and pleased that two out of three American Jews support the Democratic Party, which historically, since Franklin D. Roosevelt, stands for the basic values that all decent American Jews believe in: Tolerance, open mindedness, compassion, empathy, decency, social justice!

That does not mean that there have never been Republicans historically who one could find appealing, and even, at times, vote for and support.

But for any American Jew to support Donald Trump, who is a clear cut Fascist with strong tendencies toward Adolf Hitler, not just Benito Mussolini, is shocking beyond belief!

If one voted for Donald Trump as an “outsider” amid thoughts that a businessman with no government experience was worthy of being given a shot at leadership, and had unexplained hatred toward Hillary Clinton in 2016 to motivate you, that is one thing.

But after four years of Donald Trump, not as an outsider, but as the 45th President, and having witnessed what he has wrought, it is beyond understanding why any American Jew would vote for Trump again!

Some would say, oh the economy was going great under Trump, when the economy was already going great under Barack Obama, who took us from the Great Recession to the greatest economic recovery that we have seen in American history, including even Franklin D. Roosevelt before World War II came along!

All that Trump did is continue an economic recovery already in effect for a number of years. And that economic recovery was very uneven, with his push for a massive tax cut for the top one to two percent, which added to the national debt, and now threatens Social Security and Medicare! And 40 percent of the nation cannot afford an emergency $400 expense!

Some would say, oh Trump has done so much for Israel, in moving ahead to recognize Jerusalem as their capital; accept Israeli annexation of the Golan Heights from Syria; and promote diplomatic and other ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Israel and Bahrain, which only deepen the conflict over the future of Israel and the Palestinians. Realize that the leaders of those Arab nations are autocrats, corrupt to the core, and have no ethical basis at all toward their own population.

Any intelligent American Jew KNOWS that this is just a ploy for Benjamin Netanyahu to hold off accountability for his corruption, which has led to trial in Israel. It is also simply a way to manipulate that portion of American Jewry that Trump counts upon to help him win reelection, who think that whatever the Israeli government wants, should be supported by the United States.

But this ignores the fact that Barack Obama gave more aid and defense support to Israel through his promotion of the IRON DOME missile system, despite Netanyahu’s hostile attitude toward him, and his collaborating with Republicans on Capitol Hill, including Speaker of the House John Boehner against Obama!

But Donald Trump meanwhile consorts with antisemites and white supremacists, as at Charlottesville in 2017, but also other actions and utterances that incite violence against anyone who disagrees with his destruction of the US Constitution and rule of law! And remember that Richard Spencer, David Duke, and other extremist right wing antisemites love Donald Trump!

Donald Trump is a racist big time, if anyone looks at his history. He promoted racial discrimination in his Queens New York properties, and is infamous for his constant attack on “the Central Park Five”, five young minority men, accused of rape and assault, who he campaigned against, and has refused to admit he was wrong and apologize, when they were shown to be innocent and released after many years.

Donald Trump is a nativist, who has no issue with caging children at the border, a reminder of the early concentration camps which imprisoned Jews and other people, before the extermination concept was formulated in Nazi Germany!

He promotes anti immigrant hysteria, even though his mother was an immigrant, and two of his three wives were immigrants. And despite his close association with Muslim authoritarians, such as Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, he promotes Islamophobia, showing what a total demagogue and hypocrite he is, and his constant attacks on the few Muslim members of Congress!

Donald Trump is also a misogynist, who has abused dozens of women personally, and associates with others who have done the same, and has the gall to brag about it, but also has refused to provide evidence when charges are brought against him. He makes Bill Clinton look like a “choir boy” by comparison!

Donald Trump promotes hatred in his rallies, making people laugh as he ridicules opponents and makes fun of journalists who have been wounded by rubber bullets or tear gas, as he believes all media and all political opponents should be in prison! No other President has ever conducted himself in such a despicable manner! He is still pursuing his goal of putting Hillary Clinton, the Obamas, and Joe Biden in prison, all signs of an authoritarian demagogue!

Donald Trump rejects science, and is responsible for the mass loss of life in the COVID 19 Pandemic, and encourages his followers NOT to wear masks or practice social distancing, including at his rallies. At the same time, he thinks of his followers as “disgusting”, and calls veterans who have died in wars “suckers” and “losers”!

One might say that Donald Trump has a Jewish son in law, Jared Kushner; a Jewish Secretary of the Treasury, Steve Mnuchin; and a key Jewish adviser, Stephen Miller; along with others who work for him who are Jewish. But these Jews represent an extremely privileged class, who put their basic Jewish values aside for the gaining of power and obscene wealth!

Donald Trump has lied more than 20,000 times in office, and has had, by far, the most corrupt administration and number of corrupt appointees ever seen in any Presidency, so how can any respectable American Jew support this?

If Donald Trump is reelected, he will become ever more a threat to the basic Jewish values that matter, and any American Jew who contributes to that horror, will go down in history, condemned for their inaction when they could have taken steps to end the nightmare of an American version of Benito Mussolini at the least, and god forbid, Adolf Hitler at the most!

Best Strategy For Joe Biden: Emphasize Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Affordable Care Act, Under Attack By Donald Trump And Republicans, To Working Class And Senior Citizens

Ronald 10 Comments

There are many issues that need to be discussed and emphasized by Joe Biden and his running mate, and Democrats in general, during the upcoming Presidential and Congressional Election campaigns of 2020.

Certainly, these include the CoronaVirus Pandemic, the racial turmoil that has arisen anew since the George Floyd murder, and the economic Great Depression that have gained the most attention in these past six months.

Also, the need to discuss the issue of climate change and global warming, and the dangers to American foreign policy presented by Donald Trump’s reckless attacks on our intelligence agencies and foreign policy establishment, which has undermined our relations with our NATO allies and other democratic nations around the globe, must be discussed. Trump’s flirtation with authoritarian leaders, including Russia, China, North Korea, Turkey, Egypt, the Philippines, Brazil and elsewhere is also a major threat to global security.

But despite these and many other issues, ultimately, the major message that will gain more working class and senior citizen support is to emphasize what Democrats have supported, and have battled to preserve—programs passed by generations of Democrats, and widespread attacked by Republicans, and particularly Donald Trump in the last four years.

That is, the social justice programs that matter the most:

Social Security, passed under FDR in 1935, the lifeline for millions of people.

Medicare and Medicaid, passed under LBJ in 1965-1966, which has been a literal lifesaver for millions of Americans.

The Affordable Care Act or Obamacare, passed under Obama in 2010, and constantly under attack by Republicans who have no alternative plan, and which has been a blessing to thirty million Americans.

None of these programs were perfect or are perfect, but if left up to the Republicans of the past, and even more in the present, they would never have existed, or would have died over the years!

So Democrats need to emphasize this, that all these programs are scheduled for ultimate undermining and destruction, if, God forbid, Trump won a second term, and had a Republican controlled House of Representatives and Senate!

Explaining this reality to the working class and senior citizens is the best way to get them out to vote, not sit on the sidelines, or believe the lies and propaganda of the evil Republican Party!

A Sense That Pete Buttigieg Is On The Rise As A Moderate Alternative To Joe Biden

Ronald 20 Comments

The big winner of the Ohio Presidential debate this past week seems to many to be Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, who is seen as on the rise as a moderate alternative to Joe Biden.

Mayor Pete has been successful in raising large amounts of money in the third quarter, and his debate performance demonstrated his intelligence, his knowledge, and his perception of what Americans want, similar in his understanding of what Americans were looking for as when they voted for Barack Obama in 2008.

He is not promoting “pie in the sky”, massive changes in four years, as Bernie Sanders, and even Elizabeth Warren are doing, knowing full well that the nation is not going to elect a Democratic Congress large enough in majority to do the kinds of path breaking changes that Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson were able to bring about in 1935-1936 and 1965-1966, respectively.

As Pete has said, we first need to recover from the chaos and anarchy of Donald Trump, and to expect the nation to go to the far left, and support a required end of all private health insurance, is simply not reality.

This blogger takes the view that Americans should have a choice of keeping the health care coverage they have, or move toward government control through Medicare, but not force it on everyone over a four year period, and always allow private health insurance as an alternative, left up to the decisions of individual Americans and their families.

A long range goal is extend Medicare in stages, first to those between 50-65, then those in their 40s, then those in their 30s, and continuing on, but again with private insurance allowed if preferred.

And in foreign affairs, Mayor Pete would offer a revival of American respect and responsibility, veering away from the disastrous and reckless diplomacy of Donald Trump, and would restore American rationality and respect among our allies, and recognition that he would not be pushed around by authoritarians as has been occurring with Donald Trump.

A young, dynamic President is needed, and Mayor Pete fills the bill, following in the Democratic Party tradition of John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama. A new generation of leadership is required.