410 Comments

Funny how the "family values" party chooses not to value families dependent on compensations that are essentially money they paid out during their working lives.

Why don't conservatives see the harm that their lawmakers will do to their futures?

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Not surprising really, actually quite understandable. The fact is, despite what many people believe, Medicare and Social Security are funded in part by taxes - which is a good and healthy thing in a well-run economy supporting a decent society.

So, Republican politicians have to do the bidding of their wealthy overlords, who want government welfare for themselves. (What else is not paying your taxes but government welfare for the rich? The wealthy are the new Welfare Queens).

The sordid process of acting on behalf of wealthy patrons, maintained by the need for campaign contributions, must be carefully calibrated against the risk to their own futures from an angry populace.

Republican politicians are therefore between a rock and a hard place, so look out for weasel-words like "privatization." They may despise what they are doing, like they despise Donald Trump even as they pay lip service to him, but rest assured that Congressional benefits will not be subject to cuts - they would be violating the new rules of Animal Farm.

Democrats must bark loudly and ferociously in the next few months, at every twist and turn of this sordid dance.

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Michael I live in a bright red district in Virginia. My representative has stopped even sending me a courtesy response to my emails. I guess I could howl at the moon, but I would be nearly a lone wolf in this district. I wonder if someone could explain to me who pays into social security and how much. I get the impression that only a certain (small) amount of income is subject to social security withholdings. So why can't earners of larger incomes pay more? Is that a demand we could be making?

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The retirement and disability trust funds are NOT part of the general revenues. They are funded by FICA taxes and as of today they are solvent but projections are that by 2034 they will not be able to pay full benefits. Retirement benefits are based on a calculation usually based on the highest 35 years of earnings -- your primary insurance amount, PIA.

Benefits are taxed on the first $160,200 for 2023, commonly called the Cap. .https://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/cbb.html#:~:text=We%20call%20this%20annual%20limit,2023%2C%20this%20base%20is%20%24160%2C200.

Raising the Cap is only one method to extend the 2034 date of reconning for the retirement fund.

During my lifetime, SS had to be "fixed" by increasing the amount of FICA taxes. I blame Greenspan for not foreseeing the massive effect that the baby boom had on the retirement fund. Taxes were increased from 4.2% for a wage earner to 6.2%. Republicans complain that those who are employers have to match that amount. By 2034 baby boomer populations will flatten out and population growth will return to normal levels, reducing pressure on the trust funds.

Without getting into the weeds, here was the Democrats' plan to extend SS. https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/8005/text

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Michael Hutchinson. I am old. I remember that in the 1970s Prescott Bush Jr., brother of GHWB and uncle of GWB proposed turning the SS trust funds by investing it in the market. Of course he had worked on Wall Street and a small commission would have ensued.

I remember that they wanted to use the funds to loan to start a a housing boom through the savings and loans of the US.

GWB thought he had a mandate and he tried to privatize both funds.Bush outlined a major initiative to reform Social Security which included partial privatization of the system, personal Social Security accounts, and options to permit Americans to divert a portion of their Social Security tax (FICA) into investments. His commissioner, Michael Astrue, tried to effectuate it, but Congress stopped it.

I wrote a paper as Republicans in Congress tried to force the disability trust fund into default. 2015. Save the Social Security Disability Trust Fund! and Reduce SSI Exposure to the General Fund

https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/naalj/vol36/iss1/4/

Trump reappointed some of the same privatizers who had served in the GWB administration to SSA.

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Even BUNKERBOY was not dumb enough to touch THE most popular, successful program in America! Thank goodness DeathSantis is too milquetoast and lame to win a primary. Trump will ANNIHILATE him!

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He tried to reduce contributions to the trust funds.

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Trump actually recently warned the Republicans not to touch Social Security. Surprised me a little. It shows he still can connect with the common man on occasion, at least more than most Republicans.

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Unless the Orange Sadist is in jail.

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Daniel Solomon, I remember those episodes very well. They were/are sickening.

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Daniel Solomon: can you explain, for Medicare at least, why it is written that general revenues account for 46% of Medicare?

https://www.kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/what-to-know-about-medicare-spending-and-financing/#:~:text=Funding%20for%20Medicare%20Comes%20Primarily,15%25)%20(Figure%208).

Or Google "Medicare Revenues."

If this is wrong, and if taxpayer dollars from the wealthy are not being used to any great extent in funding Medicare, then the Republican stance is even more egregious.

My opinion is that the wealthy need to pay large amounts in taxes, and if they are not contributing anything to Medicare right now, perhaps they should.

Incidentally, as a doctor I know that there is widespread Medicare abuse, some by doctors, but mainly by hospitals, big Pharma, and the commercial Medicare Advantage plans.

Put the doctors back in charge and we can turn the clock back four decades - a halcyon time in the practice of Medicine when just about everyone was insured to a very high level (we can make it 100%), when there was essentially no for-profit insurance industry, and when healthcare accounted for only 10% of the GDP.

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I think Congress has decided to subsidize Medicare to avoid having to expand the base. Medicare is a high risk venture. Eligibility is based on advanced age, infirmity and disability. If the base were expanded to include more heathy taxpayers, the risk would be reduced and so would the subsidy.

In 2021, Medicare spending, net of income from premiums and other offsetting receipts, totaled $689 billion and accounted for 10% of the federal budget—a similar share as spending on Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and the Children's Health Insurance Program combined, and defense spending.

Medicare premiums are based on income. E.G. My wife and I are not rich but we pay geometrically more than most other people based on income for Medicare Part B. https://www.medicare.gov/Pubs/pdf/11579-medicare-costs.pdf

I heard Medicare appeals for 10 years ending in 1999. My wife worked 14 years for the agency formerly known as HICFA until 1980. We have a lot of medical providers. We also have BC BS. Even we are targeted by fraudsters. Many of the medical providers do not understand the law of insurance.

I'm sorry but need to heal thyself.

I had many serious fraud cases. E.G. the Frist family, physicians, owned Columbia Medical, that had to pay at the time, the largest fine for medical fraud in US history. The fall guy was supposed top be Rick Scott, who somehow escaped prosecution. The senate Republican majority/minority leader was Dr. Bill Frist. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Frist Had HMO fraud cases, many cases involving physician appeals.

After I left SSA I was on several ABA task forces looking into stuff like Hillarycare.

I support Medicare for all, with elimination of . the collateral sources rule. The AMA opposes. Straighten them out!

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I left the AMA in December. I am also in favor of MFA. with one caveat. If you ask Americans if they approve of MFA, 72% say yes. If you then ask the question "You do realize you'd be on Medicare too?" support drops to 36%. This can be rationalized if, when Americans hear MFA, they think universal healthcare.

So, since most Americans are happy with their employer-based commercial healthcare, MFA may actually be a vote loser, and will be seized upon by Fox. Better to say "MFA for all who want it."

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Wasn't healthcare "profitized" during Ronnie's administration?

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The Republican plan for "fixing" social security appears to be causing as many older people to die prematurely as possible (Covid, etc) and then moving the Social Security age to 80... so most people who would need to rely on the program for their retirements will be forced to work until they die without ever getting to collect.

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Yes. Well explained. Now how could they cut the fund in practice?

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I don't want to give them any ideas. But the Republican Study Committee has been working on this for years. If there is a default, retirement benefits would be cut to about 75 % of current benefits.

SSI benefits do not come from the SS trust fund, rather general funds. They've been threatening to eliminate the disability portion and return it to the states. Goes back to Jim Bunning, when he was in the House. One of his staffers is still around, head of the Social Security Advisory Board. Bunning used to ask questions like why do you need a judge to hear those cases. That was before his kid grew up, went to law school and McConnel made sure he was the youngest judge in the country.

If a person is destitute, is 65, and is a lawful resident of the US, is entitled to SSI. Where I live, Baghdad By the Sea, a sizable portion of our population, had no SSA earnings record, live among our robber barons and oligarchs yet receive SSI. Ironically, virtually all of them support Republicans.

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The only good thing I remember about Jim Bunning is that he once pitched a perfect game for the Phillies! You could look it up.

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Just unable to see me as thee! Lots of crazy people out there who cannot tell you why they have opinions that right wing do more good for them than left wings, it’s just bizarre!

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Yes, I get the SSI part since that has a whole different bar. My concern is SSA. I don't believe the funds are in the general fund. The surplus is invested and the payments come from a whole separate pile not general. I don't know why there are so many versions of this?

Where is Baghdad by the sea? LA?

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If you have the ability to, try moseying over to Buffalo! My representative in The Town of Tonawanda, Brian Higgins, already signs things I ask him to sign. EVERY TIME! (I am "alt left" by the way. A complete looney haha.)

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One solution being proposed is privatizing Social Security, where people would individually invest their retirement funds. Do you trust 20, 30, or 40 year olds to reliably do this? How many raided their IRAs/ 401K way before retirement? How many have the financial savvy to manage longterm? Would non-compliance or ineptitude result in a permanent underclass of elderly with no resources - exponential homelessness?

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You have the greatest learning machine in history at your fingertips.You need to use it or get taught how to use it.

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It is my opinion that the citizens of our great country, are just too lazy to learn!

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Yes, Trumplicans want to be the "wellfare queens, not those that cannot afford half a dozen eggs! Sad! (Thank goodness the party is as dead as the Whigs or olde.)

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Welfare drag queens!

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Lol, Bet I know who you didn’t mention by name that fits the description!

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It also occurs to me that George Anthony DeVolder Kitara LaVache Santos also fits that description.

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Very well said. Thank you.

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Donald Hodgins

2 min ago

    The tribes of American Indians who inhabited the plain states were a migratory group of buffalo hunters that followed huge herds of animals which provided them with a perpetual source of food. While traveling through the vast South West, which was made up of endless open prairies, the need for material to build their fires was of primary importance. The terrain was treeless for as far as the eye could see, what would they use to make their campfires? They may have missed out on developing the wheel but they found a good use for dried buffalo poop, otherwise known as chips. These sun-dried masses of digested and defecated grasses burned their way into the traditions of the people who followed these animals as a way of life. Their campfires were fueled by the droppings from the very animals they hunted in order to live. Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam----. The human mind will always find a way. They did why can't we? Odd to think a guy named Santos "Buffaloed" our entire political system. At least he makes it possible to keep the chambers of the House of Representivities warm at night. Keep those home fires burning George.

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Because they don’t care about ALL Americans only themselves!

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Because behind the curtain are BIG PHARMA, BIG OIL, etc who are in control.

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Todd, because Republicans are good at marketing and have the resources to do it.Conversely,Democrats are not Generally As good At marketing And have written off Red Counties.What this risks Is that eventually the Taliban storm the capital.

Republican " family values" stop where corporate campaign donations begin.Can you say "business friendly" ?

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Acute observation.

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Todd Tedford ; Because 'they have theirs' and to heck with anyone else.

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It's what >their< families value.

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DZK ; Unless it affects THEM!

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A. other than stickin' it to the Libs

and gleefully denying Others?

no decent reason, really

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They ENJOY inflicting cruelty. Cruelty is the point.

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TL Mills ; It sure looks that way.

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Todd Telford ; They are misinformed by propaganda filled with lies.

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Can't Talk Now . .

Wasn't supposed to be this soon . .(said a General reading the runes)

The big sneak surprise . .was set for '25

or A Straw in The Wind balloon #Over and Out . . .

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When George S . .

Slightly appearing, yes, Act of War . .Ish

but no Solidly Provable Conscious wish

(wut a pity, him missing . .from the Foreign stuff Committee)

Mo'an likely weather balloon offish course

No real risk . .# Baffooned Long Island

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Todd, I think it is because they lack the ability to see that all humans have the exact same basic needs but not the same intelligence or creativity to earn the same amount of money. It's the old survival of the fittest philosophy. And does not fit with the value system that so many carry even though they profess Christian Values. I think Jesus would smack them upside their heads if he was around.

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Gina Ramson ; Jesus and all those who fought and died or were maimed fighting for our flag and what it stands for. Now they replace the flag on their lapel with an AR-15 pin! McCarthy fired the Sergeant in arms at the Capitol and is allowing guns in the people's House! This in a place where some have threatened death for their 'colleagues' with whom they disagree! I wonder what security will look like at the upcoming SOTU address!?

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I have only 2 grandsons. I am glad for that now as I fear the future with a citizenship filled with anger, and armed as if they were the military.

I have pondered the idea that humans are a strange species compared to other animals. For us is not about just being satisfied with what you need to eat and having shelter for your family and yourself. It is about wanting more, and more, and more.

Of course not all humans are like that. Just like any other species there are degrees.

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We just had the first grandchild from our daughter this past fall. We are glad to love her, but worry about what will happen. Hope for the best. try to stay informed, and do what we can to be part of the solution.

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Feb 3, 2023·edited Feb 3, 2023

it's Darwinism

they turned soulless

fictitious "Citizens" with

Rights currently EXCEEDING

so called 'rights' like all the Free

Speech you can afford - exceeding

the Rights of living breathing Human

Beings who, their Christian god tells them

they have Souls. it's expeezy to Overlook these

things when your $alary $tocks ETC REQUIRES* it.

,

they've taken over the Planet.

it's like Avatar only less

Blue.

.

*hang your Soul

by the door

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Feb 3, 2023·edited Feb 3, 2023

hey Doc

Might it be possible

for others to see

pre-edits?

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Feb 3, 2023·edited Feb 3, 2023

Jesus comes back

he's gonna be PISSED

'Prosperity' Jesus? wtff?

homeless on the Streets

AND Billion fucking Aires?

.

we'll be Lucky if He

don't Smote us ALL IF

their highly-Coveted Arm-

Megeddon don't get Us First.

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Feb 3, 2023·edited Feb 3, 2023

Here's something to consider about McCarthy: https://youtu.be/bA7mQaLxMxc

Also see: https://youtu.be/o9-PVLYIrsk

And also: https://youtu.be/yb7tT2DVwBY

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Glenn mirrored my sentiments exactly. I've said all along hat that the main goal that supplies the motivation of the Republican party is revenge. For things form the two impeachments of Trump to the petty squabbles that take place on a daily basis. All the Republican party wants is their pound of flesh. Damn the people and damn the country, small minds seek even smaller rewards.

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Feb 3, 2023·edited Feb 3, 2023

I've banged on that the revenge politics has gone on since Nixon was impeached - and, perhaps, since FDR. It's nothing new. It's festered for >at least< 50 years, is now infected, and perhaps turned lethally toxic. That's to say, I >completely< agree with you.

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Yes, someone has definitely turned up the heat. The trouble lies in the fact even their own cooks can't stay in the kitchen.

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I can tell you voted for Trump. LOL Intelligence isn't dead, keep thinking and remember there are consequences, some just take more time than others.

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Feb 3, 2023·edited Feb 3, 2023

Why don't they see what the MAJORITY of the nation regards as popular and basic in terms of ALL the big issues they claim to be "addressing"?? Perhaps they do, but only keep the issues in the spotlight so we won't notice what they continue to do in order to "win" elections..

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No matter the cost down play anything the Democrats do and promote the efforts of the Republicans. The glue they use to justify what ever they feel like doing.

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I don't need 10 reasons why not to believe the fool. I only need one and I've already stated it.

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That he's a lying sack of 💩?

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You can say it, shit. LOL

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A picture is worth a thousand words.

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And you don't have to smell the subject.

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They do see it. They just don't care. The cruelty is the point... and the greed.

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Ever hear of the 53 rules/laws of dominance?

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number 54 . she signs an NDA . .to preserve The Alright Down There mythology

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Feb 4, 2023·edited Feb 4, 2023

Go ahead and make up a 54th. The Q-morons will eat-up a new one to rail about. After all, they aren't driven by what rational actors know. They go on what they're willing to believe. And the hustlers & carnival barkers that dominate them know that, too. Care to invent a 55th‽ Remind me, how many rules of acquisition do the Ferengi observe? : https://projectsanctuary.com/the_complete_ferengi_rules_of_acquisition.htm LOL!

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Ok . . power grid take down acceleration-ism boogaloo . . a manual of How to Rules needed. . .a feature of '23

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Sorry for my delayed response. I had to locate a Q decoder ring.

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PLus, like The Donald on It'll Be Wild Day! they like To Watch. Family had to watch him Get Off . .Why The Kush finally had to wash his hands . ..

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"Why don't conservatives see the harm that their lawmakers will do to their futures?" Not to worry, Todd. They see it just fine.

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and what's a little Hush Money, speaking of Family Values . .and law n order

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And we are supposed to believe the Republicans? Daddy didn't raise a fool.

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? Nothing there.

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Refinery took it down for some reason

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A confrontation with China would avail us to lose something China won't miss. A billion people.

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I called him a fool, enough said.

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Be assured, I wouldn't trust the Republicans to protect Medicare and Social Security as far as I could throw a piano.

That said, let's stop using the misnomer "entitlements." Social security is an EARNED BENEFIT. Frankly, it should be an "entitlement" that everyone is entitled to. But it isn't. It's available to those of us who paid into it and to certain of our dependents.

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Feb 3, 2023·edited Feb 3, 2023

it's a Mandatory Insurance Plan

not simply a Gift from some

benevolent overlord though

like you say that'd be Okay

too. Hoarders always gon-

na bitch and moan when

They cannot Have it ALL.

.

trace their Aversion to 'entitlements'

& most things Beneficial - to Fran

Kluntz the far 'right' conjure-up-

per of newly-Nasty words & a

vast Echo Chamber of wholly

corporate-owned exceed-

ingly-well-oiled propa-

ganda machineries

whose whole "Be-

ings" quiver over

the thought of

all those 'En-

titlements!'

in THEIR

hands.

.

If Anyone's 'Entitled' to all

that Money they figure

THEY are.

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Maybe.But I think the only thing wrong with the word has been the Republican ability,with corporate backing, to turn it into a negative,like they have with so many other words .So sure, we can try and use a different Phrase like " earned benefits" But how long would it be before Republicans are able to stigmatize it? Democrats are going to have to fight for the good semantic real estate. 

This decoder ring of Republican- speak needs to be expanded And made an action document. https://www.bluegrassactivistalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Code-words-to-GOP-rhetoric-v5.pdf

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Judy Bertelsen ; Yes, their excess wealth is Their entitlement!

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I've long felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up whenever I hear a republican use the word "entitlement" as a pejorative. It's only an "entitlement" to those of us who paid into the Social Security Trust Fund and Medicare via FICA taxes and Medicare deductions from our paychecks. I can usually hear those words from people on the right who seem to be able to utter the word and spit at the same time.

Do they really hate the public that much? I guess they look at us as a peasant class out of the Middle Ages.

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SuzyQ ; Well said!

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Meanwhile in France, people are protesting across the country against a proposal to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. The US could use some protests around this but Republican voters watch Fox News instead of reading Robert Reich, so they have no idea what is going to happen.

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Reason #1: He and his colleagues took an oath to defend the Constitution from foreign and domestic enemies and then became the domestic enemies.

Do we really need other reasons to not believe anything they say?

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“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.”

— John F. Kennedy (1962)

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With oil prices up, tar will be more expensive. But thanks to all the chickens slaughtered due to bird flu, feathers should be just about free.

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Or you could use molasses, especially if you have lots of anthills.

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reading this rundown of the rethuglicans' desire to punish poor people for being poor is like reading the intro to a horror movie on netflix. the reason people in amerikkka are poor or barely scraping by is because the rich are grossly underpaying them, denying them basic human rights (like paid family leave, health insurance, etc.) and abusing them daily (forcing them to work overtime, sexual harassment, structural and personal racism, terminating them without cause or warning, etc)

NOTE: edited to correct a typo. ugh.

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GrrlScientist ; and now they want to extend retirement age even more ; picture what they would say if THEY had to work into their old age.

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Laurie, first, they’d blame Democrats for it. But then they’d be more than compensated by rt wing lobbyist thugs.

Elections must be publicly funded with strict audits on funds used.

Then use the popular vote to determine winner.

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Feb 3, 2023·edited Feb 4, 2023

That's kind'a moot. How many have you seen - even here - questioning Biden's ability because of his age? >There's< the truth of it, in plain sight, whether or not you approve of Biden. Try getting hired by anyone after 50, and it gets exponentially harder every year past. Apply for a job after 60 and most of those wanting to make you work until 70 will effectively tell you to go home and die. If you're currently employed, they'll try to force you out, because you've reached the top of the pay scale.

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And that top of the pay scale came after many years of hard work and work ethics and it’s fairly easy to rise to that level when education for all intents and purpose stopped around fifth grade for all the younger generations! Sad!

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Sorry about making a sentence a full paragraph’

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Or if they had to actually work period!😱

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Not to mention how incongruous that they fight raising the minimum wage because it will "hurt business by raising prices" , yet are ok with a 30% tax on everything, which would be on top of state taxes . But as the saying goes, "Any excuse will serve a tyrant."

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And consumption taxes are completely regressive falling on the poorest

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The fact that Social Security benefits are taxed shows how little the Republicans understand how modest the benefit is and how far it will not go to cover expenses for people who paid into it along with other taxes throughout their working years. There are more medically necessary items that are 'over the counter' now, too ; Some of them expensive and also taxed. For example, I have severe dry eye also known as Melbonian Gland Dysfunction, which requires antiseptic cleansing pads that are sold in 50 packs at $25 per box plus tax. I need 2 boxes per month, also sterile eye drops at $24 per box for a month's supply ; also taxed and not covered by insurance. There is a procedure called 'Blephex' where the eyes are flushed which allows me to be infection free for a year. It costs $1200 and is not covered. It would be good to know who decides the insurance codes that allow a medicine or procedure to be covered by insurance. When I have an eye infection that is not covered or treated with antibiotics, a cyst forms which must be removed surgically ; that is covered, prevention is not. Anti biotics are covered but anyone who knows medicine will tell you that repeated use of broad spectrum antibiotics can cause problems with the GI tract and immunity. I had 4 treatments in 2022 with a broad spectrum antibiotic named Cephalexin. I'm sure that I am not the only person who has a similar story, whether it's the same condition or another one. Sorry for this long post, but I have wanted to tell about this for awhile.

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Don’t apologize! People need to understand what people are up against thru no fault of their own. Some, if not many of us, are trapped in our genetic code. (As an adoptee I was “legally” prevented (supposedly) from knowing my genetic history). Turns out it was very important information when I developed a BRAIN TUMOR at the same age my birth mother was when she DIED from it!!

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Vienna Heath : I hope you have been treated and are well.

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Very much so. Thanks to a great team of doctors, (we lived in Boston at the time). Thank heavens!

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Massachusetts does have good health care availability (for those with decent nsurance).. We live in Western MA.

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Vianna and Laurie: DITTO!!!

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Vi-ANNA. NOT a city called VIENNA

Thank you. (I have a “thing” about being called VIENNA!!

It has happened my entire long life. Hated as a young child, hate it now as an older adult.

I always felt people don’t pay attention, it doesn’t matter to me, why should it matter to you? (Scream)

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Vianna Heath ; Sorry! my eyes are due for cataract treatment ; From now on I will copy and paste! Promise!

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I sympathize! I’ve found all this Jan 6 & tRump junk so confusing & depressing that I have to “double read” most of the articles! Hope it’s over soon!

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Vianna Heath : it is concerning, as well as depressing that the MAGA 'republicans' seem to get away with so much. And Fox 'news', as well.

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Vienna Heath : now people can get their DNA code and search for imedical nformation about relatives.It may not always be successful, but some will share medically relevant facts to help distant relations they never met and choose not to meet In person.

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Laurie, It sickens me to hear stories like this while MTG, Dumbert, et al, pull in millions from lobbyists, our military budget is over bloated, the wealthiest get tax cuts snd working people are given crumbs for health care.

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Add the further sickening offense when reminded that all of those you name - Majorie Taylor Greene, Kevin McCarthy, Lauren Bobert, Paul Gosar - the whole vile lot of 'em - are paid by, health care provided by, security provided, etc. etc. by whom? American taxpayers! The government they despise and are trying to destroy TAKES CARE OF THEM!

The worst thing to think of? The whole Rump crime family has security and protection and other benefits provided by whom? AMERICAN TAXPAYERS!

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Exactly, we are paying for criminals to be protected!!

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Sorry Laurie, it’s all about big pharma being greedy at our expense! I’m old and have diabetes, the expense is awful, especially when it goes along with the chronic asthma, and arthritis. Thank goodness my husband retired from the Army 42 years in. TriCare is pretty good covering meds that Medicare does not cover. Thankful and grateful my husbands persistence is paying off.

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Nancy Kanzenbach ; I have Medicare and Tricare for life also, thanks to my husband's Air Force career. The items I mentioned are currently not covered, even under that excellent benefit. It has to do with the codes. BTW : I have diabetes as well, and am very grateful to have Tricare.

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Laurie I just had that diagnosis 2 days ago. Thank you for explaining! I knew it was a sham when the actually additional exam wasn't covered by Medicare and Medicaid. Cataract surgery is covered. Until then, I will use a hot pack washcloth to unplug my oil glands in my lower eyelids. Benefits are only taxed federally at some income threshold not in general. Mine aren't taxed but some states do just lump SS in with other incomes. Montana and Utah for example but thresholds exist for that, too.

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Democrats will be and look like fools if they bargain with the likes of McCarthy and his phonies if they move one nano second in negotiating the Debt Ceiling. There’s an easy answer to financial help that may be needed and assistance for Americans: tax the rich!

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Biden should tell them that he is willing to negotiate one thing and one thing only, the trump tax cuts. He is willing to restore those taxes to make the tax system fairer for all Americans.

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Set tax rates for all back to where they were when Eisenhower was President! You know, back before billionaires + ran the country. Ike was understating the problem when he referred to the "military-industrial complex." That and the Gilded Age were peanuts compared to now.

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Cut military corporate welfare too!

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Very good leverage! IMO

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We have the money! It just need to be transferred from those hoarding it.

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Has there suddenly been a huge demand for employees aged 55-70? Because if there has, then maybe I could understand a tiny piece of the logic behind raising the retirement age. However, I suspect that things are the same as they were when the Great Recession (caused by the financial services geniuses) destroyed my business and no one wanted to hire an old guy like me. I’m guessing that in a future Republican paradise, people aged 55-70 will try to survive on dog food and living in tents until they can hopefully reach a magic retirement age and begin receiving an income. As it is now, those people ages 55-62/65 are in the greatest financial jeopardy because the costs of insurance and the lack of employment opportunity make their existence very fragile. Thank goodness for Obamacare, at least. But I’m just a socialist, I guess.

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All we ever get from republicans are "Chicken Little" lies. Social Security is a "budget" item because conservatives wanted to "borrow" money from it (without every paying it back) rather than raising taxes on the wealthy to fund the government. Employers hate it because of they're greed and "self-made" lies. SOCIAL SECURITY is the most successful anti-poverty program in the history of the world. If it were funded as it was designed (by a small payroll deduction from employees and a small tax on employers) there would never be any danger of this great program going bankrupt. It has a $2 trillion trust fund). SOCIAL SECURITY is one of the most important contributors to America's healthy consumer economy. I provides retirees with money to spend on food, clothing, and housing, and helps reduce inequality in America.

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Feb 3, 2023·edited Feb 3, 2023

I feel like I'm working for corporations again. Holding my job/paycheck as ransom. Now these bastards are holding my SS/Medicare as ransom.

Every damn time the GOP has any power, I have to worry if I'll be able to pay my bills, including medical bills that Medicare won't cover because the GOP doesn't think I'm worthy of having dental care.

The GOP can rescind the trump tax scam. They can look to cut their own taxpayer funded entitlements. Lets start with their pensions. They can fund their own damn retirement. No taxpayer funded healthcare. No taxpayer funded goodies. They can take a salary cut too.

I don't think clowns make $174,000 a year.

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DLM, I think that’s a solution that can save SS. Since the RescumliCons want to destroy it, we accept their automatic removal from any payments from it! Let’s not make them “suffer” with an “entitlement” they want removed. Their wish should be granted!

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Jeff Bozo makes a lot more than that.

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Feb 3, 2023·edited Feb 3, 2023

If I’m Biden, I say to McCarthy that I’m ready to negotiate, everything’s on the table — on one simple condition: that he make a public statement, speaking for his whole caucus, that Republicans care about the level of the nation’s debt ONLY when a Democrat’s in the White House, and Democrats control Congress, and they don’t care about debt in the least when they’re in control, especially when they’re enacting unfunded tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations.

If he says no, I point to the door and say that we have nothing further to discuss, BUT do I tell him that, like a small petulant, willful child whose first lesson from his or her parents needs to be that the more he demands and the more he cries, the less he’s going to get, every time Republicans demand that Social Security, Medicare and other popular programs of great value to the public be cut, I will propose raising their funding.

Guess whose vision of the future of government will play better. There’s no way you’re going to win a Dutch auction, Kev.

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Hopefully President Biden will bring the realization to the American people during his State of the Union address. Show the average person how the actions of the gop are affecting them.

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Yes, Dems should counter the Reptilian attack on social security and Medicare by proposing that everyone in Congress reveal to their constituents, the “entitlements” they receive as legislators from the federal government — in the name of transparency! A new dedication to transparency might be a bullet point for the State of the Union.

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Perfectly said. I wish Biden’s administration would start speaking up, with class the gop lacks, and telling the American public how dangerous both the gop and the world is right now

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I hope and wish! But it probably won’t be, Biden is a lot more civil than they are. Like the idiots that kept seated when the President of Ukraine was telling them what was happening in his country and begging for help. Shameful behavior!

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Social Security is paid by people while working. Republicans are not doing any favour to them . In UK and Canada Health care is paid by the government. Why cannot America provide this facility to Americans. GOP leaders are hypocrit. Publicly they say something different when they negotiate with the president their agenda is altogether different .

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The R party is based on dishonesty & hatred.

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If Joe Biden doesn't do something to get those fascists locked up I will stop voting

I'm sick of the game playing in Congress that's making it nearly impossible to get anything done.

The Fascists are overly anxious to cause us without enough dough to live on to just shrivel up and croak or take shelter under tarps. Their words alone will give the weakest and poorest of us to die of heart attacks or strokes while they and Tucker Carlson applaud madly while wearing their AR-15 lapel pins.

Meanwhile The King of American Greed and Fascism is promising more violence if everyone doesn't vote for him. Why is he still walking free?

I really wish swearing was allowed in our comments because the real majority of Americans surely need to let loose with our verbal ammunition.

Keep dragging your feet, Mr. Biden, and you'll find yourself losing the next election. How about turning it over to Adam Schiff?

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Your cry for consequences has been heard. I’m with you. 

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I'd vote for Schiff.

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I'd vote for him in the General. But I'd rather see somebody more progressive in the primary. But not sure who.

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I hope he runs.

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Better him than Newsom.

But better Katie Porter in the Senate.

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Not my first choice, but I agree in principle.

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Who would your first choice be, Greg. It doesn't hurt to have more choices. That's what makes the first debates interesting.

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There really only a one with the track record and it’s the president.

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IDK. Bernie if he wasn't so old... not being ageist, I am 71 and couldn't imagine having a job like that, or wanting to.

Warren is maybe next best, but I don't 100% trust her after 2020.

Not Harris.

Most of the progressives in Congress haven't been there very long. But Jamie Raskin and Katie Porter have the legal-constitutional chops for it.

Somebody from the Senate?

Gretchen Whitmer?

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The Cancer in our Government is metastasizing!

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welcome to

Tumorville.

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Are you talking about Tommy Tumorville? LOL!

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Tuberville. AKA "Mr. Potato Head."

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Exactly, Alabama was not so smart coming up with this clown which by the way couldn’t hold a candle to and still can’t Doug Jones!

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Out, out damn spot.

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And the dog got up and left.

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The Bigger Picture is ......this is Not just a Republican Thing because Democrats often act like it is out of their hands. This is a Corporate Thing! Everything from Social Security to Medicare to Health Insurance,is Corporations & The Ruling class WANT TO PRIVATIZE all of it for more Profits . We are watching the disintegration of the Public Common Good! Although we pay into this separate from a government budget this is just another grab of enslaving people! Inequality is killing us all

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I agree with you comments!

Promote the General

Wellfare, it's in the Constitution

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Right!

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It is first and foremost a corporate thing.Republican elected officials are just a tool of convenience In a mutualist symbiotic relationship which however is parasitic to Republican voters generally.

Historically we have been here before as a nation where corporations ruled In the Gilded Age .With the Tillman Act and others the corrupting power of corporations was curtailed.The Supreme Court has also become a tool,It's conservative membership Intellectually And identity- captured by training at institutions also largely captured

by economic and legal interpretations shaped by corporate interests.

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While we're on the topic of honesty, isn't it past time that we change the name of the DOD back to the Department of War, or even the Department of Attack, since, historically, we have initiated the conflicts?

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Miss Anne:

Or been the underlying cause of conflict, e.g., propping up dictators when it is clear that the populace is suffering and ready to revolt or in revolt.

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Feb 3, 2023·edited Feb 3, 2023

our Ministry of Truth nixed

the 'War Department' moniker

Deftly removing all Responsibilities

for any Incursions we may be required

to initiate to protect Capitalism -- er Democracy.

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"Beware of the military industrial complex".

Quote from Republican President Eisenhower

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The last Republican worth anything. IMHO.

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Department of War Profiteering Support.

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