The Republican vision of America is one in which 99% of us are condemned to serf
by Thom Hartmann,posted Mar 20 2012 1:42PM
Republicans in Congress unveiled their vision for America today – and if they succeed, the 99% of us are condemned to live like serfs. House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, himself a multimillionaire, released his blueprint budget for fiscal year 2013 – which includes massive cuts to food stamps, student loans, Medicaid, and Social Security. The budget also dismantles Medicare as we know it – transforming an insurance program into a voucher program, leaving millions of senior citizens on their own to deal with for-profit health insurance companies.
And in a nod to the Republican Party’s super-rich members like himself, Ryan proposes enormous tax breaks for the 1% - lowering the top income tax rate from 35% down to 25%. According to the Tax Policy Center – Ryan’s budget would give $3 trillion in tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans – all paid for by cutting spending on education, healthcare, and Medicare. Congressman Ryan said about his budget, “It’s up to the people to demand ... a choice between two futures. The question is which future will you choose?”
That is the question indeed – will we choose the future in which a middle class can thrive again in America like it did for 50 years after the New Deal until Ronald Reagan blew everything up? Or – will we choose Paul Ryan’s path to an Ayn Rand dystopia, in which only the super-wealthy can go to good schools and see doctors, and everyone else is left with what trickles down from the tables of the rich?
Listen to me LIVE Monday through Friday from 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL AM 1600.
The Senate Judiciary Committee has advanced a so-called comprehensive immigration plan. And, as usual, Democrats conceded to Republican demands in the name of compromise. Over the last five days, the Judiciary Committee members considered over...
I must admit, I've never been to Oklahoma. I have family friends from there, but it's one part of the Great Plains I've managed to avoid in my life. Yet that didn't stop me from feeling quite a bit of empathy with those folks in...
For over a week, Republicans have refused to focus on anything but so-called scandal. And, it turns out, that's exactly the way they want it. On Thursday, the Heritage Foundation, a prominent conservative think tank, sent a letter to...
A new CNN poll shows Obama's favorability rating at 53 percent. That's up from 51 percent in April, and up from the 51.1 percent from the poll that really counted last November. Like before the scandals, 45 percent of people disapprove of the...
Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have made their point – they hate Obamacare. And, just in case anyone didn't get the message the first 36 times they made that point, they're about to waste even more taxpayer...
It turns out the IRS was investigating conservative organizations seeking tax-exempt status. Duh! And the TSA has been looking at people seeking to get on airplanes. None of the conservative organizations that the IRS was "targeting" were...
The Associated Press has accused the Justice Department of "massive and unprecedented intrusion." That's according to one of the AP's top executives, after learning that the government secretly acquired two months of the news...
It seems that the Republicans won't stop until their attacks over Benghazi are as vicious as the attack in Benghazi. The Republicans would have you believe that the Obama administration altered the talking points on Benghazi out of political...
According to the U.S. Supreme Court, Monsanto has the right to control our food supply. In a unanimous ruling released this morning, the nine Justices sided with the agricultural giant, and held that an Indiana farmer violated Monsanto's...
Yesterday, Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives postponed all floor votes so they could hold their ninth hearing about Benghazi. Instead of working on any number of pressing issues effecting Americans, Republicans spent nine...
Republicans in Congress unveiled their vision for America today – and if they succeed, the 99% of us are condemned to live like serfs. House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, himself a multimillionaire, released his blueprint budget for fiscal year 2013 – which includes massive cuts to food stamps, student loans, Medicaid, and Social Security. The budget also dismantles Medicare as we know it – transforming an insurance program into a voucher program, leaving millions of senior citizens on their own to deal with for-profit health insurance companies. 