Beyond Tea-Party Somnambulism!

Posts tagged ‘Koch Brothers’

Harris Drags On with Vow to Repeal Obamacare!

Rep. Andy Harris (see http://harris.house.gov/) loves to state a position (usually involving the word “NO”, and then stick to it, no matter what the ramifications. As a Tea Party and wealthy corporatist Favorite Son, he merely does what he is told by the puppet masters who control his campaign contribution purse-strings.  The health care issue is no different for him today, than it was three years ago, when he promised to repeal the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”), come hell or high water.

Even after decrying the required wait for his own health coverage to take effect in Congress, he turned a blind eye to the plight of those who have no health coverage at all…not just for 30 days, but for their entire lives.  Back then, he was upset because there was a standard waiting period from the time he was sworn in, until the effective date of the Congressional health plan.  Meanwhile, this is an ordinary course of events for Americans, on a daily basis.  If you move from one company to another, you might have to wait 30, 60 or 90 days before coverage takes effect.

While looking out for his own health coverage, Harris’ ongoing repeal efforts would deny the following benefits to families and businesses in the 1st district:

"Dr. No..no..no...no...no!" Not a leader...a puppet of Koch Brothers, and Tea Party extremists!

“Dr. No..no..no…no…no!” Not a leader…a puppet of Koch Brothers, and Tea Party extremists!

  • Improving coverage for 498,000 residents with health insurance, by ending the worst of insurance company abuses such as eliminating pre-existing condition exclusions and annual and lifetime coverage limits.
  • Allowing 50,000 young adults to obtain coverage on their parents’ insurance plans.
  • Strengthening Medicare for 119,000 beneficiaries, including reducing the cost of prescription drugs and eliminating waste fraud and abuse.
  • Giving tax credits and other help to up to 126,000 families and 17,900 small businesses to help them afford coverage.
  • Guaranteeing that 8,500 residents with pre-existing conditions can obtain coverage.
  • Extending coverage to 19,000 uninsured residents.
  • Protecting 1,100 families from bankruptcy due to unaffordable health care costs.
  • Providing millions of dollars in new funding for 47 community health centers.
  • Saving hospitals and other health care providers by $29 million annually, by reducing the cost of uncompensated care.

It’s about time Harris stops playing politics with the health and welfare of the residents of the 1st district. It’s time, as a doctor who supposedly subscribes to the Hippocratic Oath and promise to “First, do no harm”, to start acting like it.  People’s lives hang in the balance and they should not be considered fodder for his political rallies, soundbites and distorted charts that he is famous for.  It’s time to put PEOPLE OVER POLITICS!

 

Category:

Corporatism, Health Care, Koch Brothers, Rep. Andy Harris, Tea Party

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Ayn Rand = Paul Ryan = “I Got Mine, Screw You!”

The TRUTH about Paul “Ayn Rand” Ryan. Don’t keep this secret…share it with everyone you know.  Unfortunately, there is something here for everyone to hate!

Ryan: “I can’t believe there are people who are really buying my crap!”

1. His economic plan would cost America 1 million jobs in the first year. Ryan’s proposed budget would cripple the economy. He’d slash spending deeply, which would not only slow job growth, but shock the economy and cost 1 million of us our jobs in 2013 alone and kill more than 4 million jobs by the end of 2014.

2. He’d kill Medicare. He’d replace Medicare with vouchers for retirees to purchase insurance, eliminating the guarantee of health care for seniors and putting them at the mercy of the private insurance industry. That could amount to a cost increase of more than $5,900 by 2050, leaving many seniors broke or without the health care they need. He’d also raise the age of eligibility to 67.

3. He’d pickpocket the middle class to line the pockets of the rich. His tax plan is Robin Hood in reverse. He wants to cut taxes by $4.6 trillion over the next decade, but only for corporations and the rich, like giving families earning more than $1 million a year a $300,000 tax cut. And to pay for them, he’d raise taxes on middle- and lower-income households and butcher social service programs that help middle- and working-class Americans.

4. He’s an anti-choice extremist. Ryan co-sponsored an extremist anti-choice bill, nicknamed the ‘Let Women Die Act,’ that would have allowed hospitals to deny women emergency abortion care even if their lives were at risk. And he co-sponsored another bill that would criminalize some forms of birth control, all abortions, and in vitro fertilization.

5. He’d dismantle Social Security. Ironically, Ryan used the Social Security Survivors benefit to help pay for college, but he wants to take that possibility away from future generations. He agrees with Rick Perry’s view that Social Security is a “Ponzi scheme” and he supported George W. Bush’s disastrous proposal to privatize Social Security.

6. He’d eliminate Pell grants for more than 1 million low-income students. His budget plan cuts the Pell Grant program by $200 billion, which could mean a loss of educational funding for 1 million low-income students.

7. He’d give $40 billion in subsidies to Big Oil. His budget includes oil tax breaks worth $40 billion, while cutting “billions of dollars from investments to develop alternative fuels and clean energy technologies that would serve as substitutes for oil.”

8. He’s another Koch-head politician. Not surprisingly, the billionaire oil-baron Koch brothers are some of Ryan’s biggest political contributors. And their company, Koch industries, is Ryan’s biggest energy-related donor. The company’s PAC and affiliated individuals have given him $65,500 in donations.

9. He opposes gay rights. Ryan has an abysmal voting record on gay rights. He’s voted to ban adoption by gay couples, against same-sex marriage, and against repealing “don’t ask, don’t tell.” He also voted against the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which President Obama signed into law in 2009.

10. He thinks an “I got mine, who cares if you’re okay” philosophy is admirable. For many years, Paul Ryan devoted himself to Ayn Rand’s philosophy of selfishness as a virtue. It has shaped his entire ethic about whom he serves in public office. He even went as far as making his interns read her work.

If there was ever any doubt that Mitt Romney’s got a disastrous plan for America—he made himself 100% clear when he picked right-wing extremist Paul Ryan as his running mate. Paul Ryan is bad for America, but we can’t beat him if Americans don’t know everything he stands for. 

Category:

Corporate Greed, Economy & Deficit, Environment, Health Care, Jobs, Paul Ryan, Politics - other, Pro-Choice, Right-wing, Taxes, Tea Party, U.S. Constitution, War on Women

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Wisconsin’s Results Affect Us All

Scott Walker – Union-busting puppet of Koch Brothers

Walker is the right-wing hero-du-jour. Spinners argue the Right is emboldened because he survived. Attacks on worker rights, cuts in education, tax cuts and restricted voting, will now spread even more rapidly across the country.

I foresee more compromise. Walker barely survived the backlash caused by his lies and radical actions. He lost the Senate! He experienced a brutal recall, with a drop in popularity.

Of course, the Tea Party and Koch Brothers look-a-likes are waving a victory flag. But Walker’s, Kasich’s and Scott’s bloody noses will remain sore.

Where does that leave the President? Exit polls showed President Obama will take Wisconsin. It seems that many voters objected to the recall itself, not because they endorsed Walker’s radical policies.

Elected officials face important choices: Will the Middle Class and poor continue to pay for the catastrophe caused by 32 years of failed right-wing lies? Will America continue cutting education, health care, infrastructure, retirement security, clean water and air? Will we continue to approve CEO multimillion-dollar bonuses for jobs sent abroad, breaking unions, fudging books and lying to meet quarterly profit margins?

Puppetmasters, Charles & David Koch

The alternative is to rebuild our country, with historically fairer taxes. To empower workers with fair wages, based on their productivity that creates huge profits.

Wisconsin is a warning to the President and progressives, who will need to work harder, stretch more, educate and reach out more, to counter the increased power of big money. “Big Money” out-spent their opponents 7 to 1!  “Big money” demands a big reaction.

Are voters okay with “Big Money” taking over our future? It reminds me of the scene in Star Trek: First Contact, when, after going back in time, just prior to first contact between Earth and Vulcan, the Borg Queen is about to stop it from happening. Her words are startlingly appropriate: “Watch your future’s end!”

Category:

Politics - other, President Obama, Corporate Greed, Money Out Of Politics, Right-wing

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