I am so sick of Republicans whining about the deficit and obstructing legislation designed to help their constituents.
"The only thing Republicans have opposed in this debate are job-killing taxes and adding to the national debt," said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky in an Associated Press story June 25. "What we're not willing to do is use worthwhile programs as an excuse to burden our children and our grandchildren with an even bigger national debt than we've already got."
No, they’d rather burden our children and grandchildren with the debt from two unnecessary wars and tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.
They continue to deny our own history – when President Franklin Roosevelt responded to a similar economic crisis with government spending to provide benefits to the poor and employment to the jobless. It’s called the New Deal, and it worked.
Go look at the record of tax cuts and economic growth at the Center On Budget and Policy Priorities at: http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=692. The Republicans are full of baloney. Economics is complicated, and a simple proposal like “cutting taxes and spending” is a sound bite. But apparently it’s all the GOP has.
I’m ready for them to get out of the way and let the rest of us try something new to grow our economy. All they’re proposing is more of the same. This is simply political obstruction over governing; politics over people.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Open letter to Congress
Saturday morning of Labor Day weekend and Robert Reich, economist and former U.S. Secretary of Labor, is writing about the worst employment and wage numbers since the Great Depression. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/the-real-news-about-jobs_b_278098.html
Which is why I question opposition to a public option for health care.
I understand the fear of average citizens and their reactionary response. When media sources conflate fear and feed the public lies, they’re going to strike out at the biggest bogeyman they can find – government.
But your cowardice astounds and frustrates me. Where is your leadership? America is about to careen off a cliff, and you’re still playing politics!
The true measure of Washington cravenness is your inability to read the signs our entire economy is about to collapse. Instead, you let corporate executives push to keep their overblown salaries and fight regulation, actions doomed to send them crashing into the abyss, too. Their consumer market is shrinking. Who will buy their crap now? (And the last year has proven it’s crap!)
Members of Congress, particularly Republicans and conservative Blue Dog Dems, saw on the same old ideological platitudes while Rome burns. Meanwhile, corporate media looks the other way because they live in gated communities where everyone is still “doing OK.” Or they’re too dumb to understand the subjects they report on. (Witness Maria Bartiromo interviewing Rep. Ron Weiner about Medicare.)
Congress needs to study American history. When our economy has been at its worst, more government intervention (not less) has been required to stimulate growth and turn things around. This means deficit spending. And it has been government programs like Social Security, the Works Progress Administration, the GI Bill and Medicare that have stabilized the economy and allowed citizens to pursue new business ventures.
Right now, the American business sector is shrinking. This is largely due to rising health care costs. And only a government or public option will be large enough to ensure the competition to drive costs down.
But most disturbing to me is the loyalty of duly elected Congress men and women to the insurance and health care sectors instead of to the American people. Voters on all sides ought to be angry, and instead of shouting at each other, we ought to be taking names. Instead of letting Congress people like Charles Grassley scare the pants off us with comments about “pulling the plug on Grandma,” we should be asking him why he took more than $2 million from health insurers and providers.
You’re supposed to be working for us, and we need help – desperately.
Which is why I question opposition to a public option for health care.
I understand the fear of average citizens and their reactionary response. When media sources conflate fear and feed the public lies, they’re going to strike out at the biggest bogeyman they can find – government.
But your cowardice astounds and frustrates me. Where is your leadership? America is about to careen off a cliff, and you’re still playing politics!
The true measure of Washington cravenness is your inability to read the signs our entire economy is about to collapse. Instead, you let corporate executives push to keep their overblown salaries and fight regulation, actions doomed to send them crashing into the abyss, too. Their consumer market is shrinking. Who will buy their crap now? (And the last year has proven it’s crap!)
Members of Congress, particularly Republicans and conservative Blue Dog Dems, saw on the same old ideological platitudes while Rome burns. Meanwhile, corporate media looks the other way because they live in gated communities where everyone is still “doing OK.” Or they’re too dumb to understand the subjects they report on. (Witness Maria Bartiromo interviewing Rep. Ron Weiner about Medicare.)
Congress needs to study American history. When our economy has been at its worst, more government intervention (not less) has been required to stimulate growth and turn things around. This means deficit spending. And it has been government programs like Social Security, the Works Progress Administration, the GI Bill and Medicare that have stabilized the economy and allowed citizens to pursue new business ventures.
Right now, the American business sector is shrinking. This is largely due to rising health care costs. And only a government or public option will be large enough to ensure the competition to drive costs down.
But most disturbing to me is the loyalty of duly elected Congress men and women to the insurance and health care sectors instead of to the American people. Voters on all sides ought to be angry, and instead of shouting at each other, we ought to be taking names. Instead of letting Congress people like Charles Grassley scare the pants off us with comments about “pulling the plug on Grandma,” we should be asking him why he took more than $2 million from health insurers and providers.
You’re supposed to be working for us, and we need help – desperately.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Reagan was wrong
Probably the most damaging legacy Ronald Reagan left America is his oft-quoted statement: “Government is not the solution to our problems; government is the problem.” That one sweeping statement rendered our democracy helpless and allowed government leaders to abandon leadership for profit and power.
And we the people fell for it.
Democracy, particularly American democracy, has always been about shared responsibility. In democracies, citizens are responsible for determining who represents them in government as well as for actively monitoring representatives’ work. Yet over the last 30 years, we’ve given up these responsibilities.
“If government is the problem, why vote? Why follow legislation and contact our senators and representatives with our opinions? It doesn’t make a difference.” This is the prevailing attitude.
And so more and more over the last 30 years, U.S. government has been influenced not by the people it was created to serve, but by corporations and wealthy Americans whose agenda is to further enrich and empower themselves. And not coincidentally, our media outlets, responsible for bringing us information about government, have covered less and less policy. Instead, their corporate ownership directs the focus to personalities, social issues like abortion, and deceptively titled legislation like No Child Left Behind or the Clean Air Act.
Make no mistake. This is propaganda, more commonly referred to as public relations in politically correct terms. And we’ve swallowed it hook, line and sinker.
But now that we’re in a real crisis, citizens are beginning to question things. I’ve waited a long time for this, because I believe government, and more specifically democracy, is the solution to our problems – when we all participate.
And that means more than flying your flag and putting red-white-and-blue magnets on your car. It even goes beyond voting. It means reading about local, state and federal legislation, and registering your opinion via phone calls, letters and e-mails. It means stepping up to serve in government if you feel capable. It means advocating for the causes important to you. And most of all it means questioning everything in search of the public good.
Reagan was wrong. Government isn’t the problem, but many of the people we’ve elected are. And with his attitude, he was one of them.
And we the people fell for it.
Democracy, particularly American democracy, has always been about shared responsibility. In democracies, citizens are responsible for determining who represents them in government as well as for actively monitoring representatives’ work. Yet over the last 30 years, we’ve given up these responsibilities.
“If government is the problem, why vote? Why follow legislation and contact our senators and representatives with our opinions? It doesn’t make a difference.” This is the prevailing attitude.
And so more and more over the last 30 years, U.S. government has been influenced not by the people it was created to serve, but by corporations and wealthy Americans whose agenda is to further enrich and empower themselves. And not coincidentally, our media outlets, responsible for bringing us information about government, have covered less and less policy. Instead, their corporate ownership directs the focus to personalities, social issues like abortion, and deceptively titled legislation like No Child Left Behind or the Clean Air Act.
Make no mistake. This is propaganda, more commonly referred to as public relations in politically correct terms. And we’ve swallowed it hook, line and sinker.
But now that we’re in a real crisis, citizens are beginning to question things. I’ve waited a long time for this, because I believe government, and more specifically democracy, is the solution to our problems – when we all participate.
And that means more than flying your flag and putting red-white-and-blue magnets on your car. It even goes beyond voting. It means reading about local, state and federal legislation, and registering your opinion via phone calls, letters and e-mails. It means stepping up to serve in government if you feel capable. It means advocating for the causes important to you. And most of all it means questioning everything in search of the public good.
Reagan was wrong. Government isn’t the problem, but many of the people we’ve elected are. And with his attitude, he was one of them.
Monday, August 31, 2009
August 18 Letter to Grassley
Dear Senator Grassley,
I attended your town hall in Afton, Ia., on Wed., Aug. 12, and I was disappointed to see you reinforce erroneous political talking points on health care instead of focusing on Iowans’ needs. I would also like to respond to your Aug. 4 letter, which references “independent analysis” which you subsequently don’t cite. I would guess this is the Lewin Report financed by the Heritage Foundation and conducted by a firm owned by UnitedHealth. Obviously, this report is not an unbiased independent source, which is probably why you didn’t cite it.
In your letter you also indicate we must “bolster the individual and employer-based insurance markets by crafting a public policy that encourages affordable, accessible coverage. We must lower costs for consumers by promoting efficiency, encouraging prevention and rewarding quality.”
I would remind you employer-based insurance has broken the U.S. auto industry and other manufacturing companies, forcing them to leave the country. Additionally, our nation cannot attract replacement industries due to this requirement. Instead companies settle across the border in Mexico and Canada where they have national health care. And as I have told your staff via phone calls, individuals with ideas for new businesses find health care costs prohibitive. Thus, the share of our economy held by new business ventures is shrinking. These are facts, not simply what I choose to believe. Meanwhile, the percentage of GDP eaten up by health costs is growing.
Still you deny these realities. And in fact, as I observed in Afton (and your Aug. 4 letter), you deliberately mislead ill-informed Iowans to stoke their fears and support the status quo against their own best interests. Shame on you! As a leader, you have a responsibility to educate and help these people, not frighten them. Also your allusions to “death panels,” though more subtle in Afton than in Winterset, strike a sour note with me. You see, 10 years ago, I went through such a situation with both my parents.
End of life consultations are an important part of the process of helping families decide how to help their loved ones die with dignity. For both Mom and Dad, who had terminal cancer, we needed to know what was available in rural Iowa, what Medicare and their insurance would cover, and what our role in care might be. This was especially important as we chose to allow our parents to die in their home. My sister and I provided daily care with the help of the Montgomery County Hospice program. You and other Republicans’ portrayal of these consultations as death panels determining who lives and dies is a lie and an outrage.
Instead of working to help Iowans, you have chosen to take up arms as a Republican warrior fighting Democrats as the enemy. You’ve bought into Newt Gingrich’s old lies.
But I see us all as Americans. And for the last 40 years, conservative ideas have shaped our government. It’s been self-fulfilling prophecy because you believe, “Government is not the solution to our problems. Government is the problem!” You’ve made government the problem; you’ve made sure you strangle it. Tax cuts, deregulation and corporate-friendly policies have gutted our economy. To improve our conditions, we must change course. That means the pendulum needs to swing back the other way. As a pragmatist, I expect we’ll surely have to change course again in the future. However, in 2009, we need to try some progressive ideas.
Which leads me back to health care and our economy.
You and the rest of the Republicans in Congress have chosen to ignore poll after poll indicating Americans want a public health care option. And for me, even that is a compromise. I favor a universal single payer plan or nationalized health care. Yet you refuse to even allow the public option compromise.
What I heard from you in Afton was a very carefully orchestrated message to conflate voters’ fears about a change, to appear to be negotiating with the Obama Administration for political cover, and then to write a plan that protects the health insurers and the status quo. Essentially, the insurers will give up nothing.
So you remember this prediction if you’re successful. If our health care and insurance system in this country does not change, I believe the entire American economy will crash. Your plans will not control costs or improve access. It will not help businesses, small or large, free up dollars for new ventures and jobs. Instead, the status quo will only increase the misery.
You have a choice to perform public service or to play politics. I think you’ve made your choice.
But I won’t support you. And because I care about my family, friends and neighbors, I’m going to fight for their best interests. That’s a promise.
I attended your town hall in Afton, Ia., on Wed., Aug. 12, and I was disappointed to see you reinforce erroneous political talking points on health care instead of focusing on Iowans’ needs. I would also like to respond to your Aug. 4 letter, which references “independent analysis” which you subsequently don’t cite. I would guess this is the Lewin Report financed by the Heritage Foundation and conducted by a firm owned by UnitedHealth. Obviously, this report is not an unbiased independent source, which is probably why you didn’t cite it.
In your letter you also indicate we must “bolster the individual and employer-based insurance markets by crafting a public policy that encourages affordable, accessible coverage. We must lower costs for consumers by promoting efficiency, encouraging prevention and rewarding quality.”
I would remind you employer-based insurance has broken the U.S. auto industry and other manufacturing companies, forcing them to leave the country. Additionally, our nation cannot attract replacement industries due to this requirement. Instead companies settle across the border in Mexico and Canada where they have national health care. And as I have told your staff via phone calls, individuals with ideas for new businesses find health care costs prohibitive. Thus, the share of our economy held by new business ventures is shrinking. These are facts, not simply what I choose to believe. Meanwhile, the percentage of GDP eaten up by health costs is growing.
Still you deny these realities. And in fact, as I observed in Afton (and your Aug. 4 letter), you deliberately mislead ill-informed Iowans to stoke their fears and support the status quo against their own best interests. Shame on you! As a leader, you have a responsibility to educate and help these people, not frighten them. Also your allusions to “death panels,” though more subtle in Afton than in Winterset, strike a sour note with me. You see, 10 years ago, I went through such a situation with both my parents.
End of life consultations are an important part of the process of helping families decide how to help their loved ones die with dignity. For both Mom and Dad, who had terminal cancer, we needed to know what was available in rural Iowa, what Medicare and their insurance would cover, and what our role in care might be. This was especially important as we chose to allow our parents to die in their home. My sister and I provided daily care with the help of the Montgomery County Hospice program. You and other Republicans’ portrayal of these consultations as death panels determining who lives and dies is a lie and an outrage.
Instead of working to help Iowans, you have chosen to take up arms as a Republican warrior fighting Democrats as the enemy. You’ve bought into Newt Gingrich’s old lies.
But I see us all as Americans. And for the last 40 years, conservative ideas have shaped our government. It’s been self-fulfilling prophecy because you believe, “Government is not the solution to our problems. Government is the problem!” You’ve made government the problem; you’ve made sure you strangle it. Tax cuts, deregulation and corporate-friendly policies have gutted our economy. To improve our conditions, we must change course. That means the pendulum needs to swing back the other way. As a pragmatist, I expect we’ll surely have to change course again in the future. However, in 2009, we need to try some progressive ideas.
Which leads me back to health care and our economy.
You and the rest of the Republicans in Congress have chosen to ignore poll after poll indicating Americans want a public health care option. And for me, even that is a compromise. I favor a universal single payer plan or nationalized health care. Yet you refuse to even allow the public option compromise.
What I heard from you in Afton was a very carefully orchestrated message to conflate voters’ fears about a change, to appear to be negotiating with the Obama Administration for political cover, and then to write a plan that protects the health insurers and the status quo. Essentially, the insurers will give up nothing.
So you remember this prediction if you’re successful. If our health care and insurance system in this country does not change, I believe the entire American economy will crash. Your plans will not control costs or improve access. It will not help businesses, small or large, free up dollars for new ventures and jobs. Instead, the status quo will only increase the misery.
You have a choice to perform public service or to play politics. I think you’ve made your choice.
But I won’t support you. And because I care about my family, friends and neighbors, I’m going to fight for their best interests. That’s a promise.
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