Automatic Cuts
Discussion from Kaiser Health News: "Many Health Programs Face Sharp Automatic Cuts If Super Committee Deadlocks." "Federal funding for medical research, disease prevention and a host of public health initiatives could be sharply reduced if the congressional super committee fails to agree on a deficit-reduction package, triggering automatic cuts. Public attention has largely focused on possible cuts to the huge entitlement programs for seniors and the poor, Medicare and Medicaid, but health advocates are raising an alarm about many other smaller programs they say need to be protected."
No doubt about it. Health and human services, the military, law enforcement, and many other government services face budget problems and serious consequences.
Useful Perspective
The Rise of the Regressive Right and the Reawakening of America from Robert Reich. "A fundamental war has been waged in this nation since its founding, between progressive forces pushing us forward and regressive forces pulling us backward. We are going to battle once again. Progressives believe in openness, equal opportunity, and tolerance."
"Progressives assume we're all in it together: We all benefit from public investments in schools and health care and infrastructure. And we all do better with strong safety nets, reasonable constraints on Wall Street and big business, and a truly progressive tax system. Progressives worry when the rich and privileged become powerful enough to undermine democracy. Regressives take the opposite positions."
"Yet the great arc of American history reveals an unmistakable pattern. Whenever privilege and power conspire to pull us backward, the nation eventually rallies and moves forward. Sometimes it takes an economic shock like the bursting of a giant speculative bubble; sometimes we just reach a tipping point where the frustrations of average Americans turn into action."
Read this and understand why I say that Medicare and Social Security are the targets of destruction. You may find this helpful in clarifying your thinking about pre-paid public benefits, the role of government, and whether there is hope.
Long Term Care Loss
"The Obama Administration is pulling the plug on CLASS, the long-term insurance program within the Affordable Care Act. The announcement came late Friday, most likely because administration officials hoped to bury the news. They did not succeed, as Republicans and their supporters were all over it." Read "A Setback for Obamacare? Or Vindication? How About Both" for an interesting and informative discussion about long term care.
The Republican Reality-Free Zone
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