Paul Krugman- A War on the Poor

[n2doc]

John Kasich, the Republican governor of Ohio, has done some surprising things lately. First, he did an end run around his state’s Legislature — controlled by his own party — to proceed with the federally funded expansion of Medicaid that is an important piece of Obamacare. Then, defending his action, he let loose on his political allies, declaring, “I’m concerned about the fact there seems to be a war on the poor. That, if you’re poor, somehow you’re shiftless and lazy.”

Obviously Mr. Kasich isn’t the first to make this observation. But the fact that it’s coming from a Republican in good standing (although maybe not anymore), indeed someone who used to be known as a conservative firebrand, is telling. Republican hostility toward the poor and unfortunate has now reached such a fever pitch that the party doesn’t really stand for anything else — and only willfully blind observers can fail to see that reality.

The big question is why. But, first, let’s talk a bit more about what’s eating the right.

I still sometimes see pundits claiming that the Tea Party movement is basically driven by concerns about budget deficits. That’s delusional. Read the founding rant by Rick Santelli of CNBC: There’s nary a mention of deficits. Instead, it’s a tirade against the possibility that the government might help “losers” avoid foreclosure. Or read transcripts from Rush Limbaugh or other right-wing talk radio hosts. There’s not much about fiscal responsibility, but there’s a lot about how the government is rewarding the lazy and undeserving.

Republicans in leadership positions try to modulate their language a bit, but it’s a matter more of tone than substance. They’re still clearly passionate about making sure that the poor and unlucky get as little help as possible, that — as Representative Paul Ryan, the chairman of the House Budget Committee, put it — the safety net is becoming “a hammock that lulls able-bodied people to lives of dependency and complacency.” And Mr. Ryan’s budget proposals involve savage cuts in safety-net programs such as food stamps and Medicaid.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/01/opinion/krugman-a-war-on-the-poor.html?hp&rref=opinion

[MrMickeysMom]

1. I've always seen tea baggers as self-loathing ignoramuses, and Krugman notes the same

You've heard it over and over... "why do these people seem to want to vote against their self-interests?" They want for (whom?) what is rightfully (theirs?)

Every conversation I've had points to "those people" to "take from the system"... It's nothing more than hate talk, and if they looked at the mirror, they are criticizing the only persons left on the planet, once you've ruled out every Rush Limbaugh has stood for.

They can't even see who Pogo said was the "enemy"... and it's their self loathing ignorance.

I can't stand listening to these people, but I do every day, it seems.

[ewagner]

3. The Tea Baggers are only the tool

that the industrialists use to implement their Randian dream society...

Yes, they are ignorant.

But keep in mind that the people controlling them are not ignorant...they know how to stir the jealousies, bigotry and hatred necessary to put these morons on the street and they personally transport them to the polling places.

The tea baggers are the symptom

The oligarchy is the disease.

[MrMickeysMom]

4. Right...

To treat the disease, you don't try to mask the symptoms.

[dotymed]

2. Paul Ryan,

I am a 52 year old single father. I now rely on SS and my small Union disability to live. After decades of body wrecking
work, my heart finally gave out.
Don't worry, SS was able to prolong my actual disability date for enough years that I only get a portion of what I am "entitled to."
SS "agreed that I was disabled (after 6 years of hell), but they said that my disability occurred years after my heart failure kept me from working. By doing this, they were able to save you titans of wealth protection a lot of money. By using their date of onset of disability, SS was able to calculate my monthly payments based on the time that I was not an earner, therefore I receive about the same payments that an SSI person receives. You people sure are tricky.
I was a highly paid Union carpenter, but none of that mattered. SS claims that I could have been a "toll taker" on a toll road for years before they finally agreed that I am disabled. Never mind that there was not a job opening in that category.
Can you imagine a man with heart failure and COPD working in the polluted environment of a "toll taker?" I am sure YOU can.
So, the safety net is becoming “a hammock that lulls able-bodied people to lives of dependency ... I really want to tell you to "keep it."

Also, by delaying my "disability onset", I was unable to receive my regular disability retirement from my Union. I had to be approved as disabled within 2 years of my last full working year. SS made sure that didn't happen.

Hey, just want to say FUCK YOU.

[MrMickeysMom]

5. dotymed...

I realize the shit you've been put through (as a respiratory therapist), but who get's the "fuck you"?

[dotymed]

6. Sorry Mom,

That was for Paul Ryan..

[MrMickeysMom]

7. Then, it was well placed...

These people are so far up the ass of the Koch brothers, they've detached from humanity. They need to experience the pain of what they have done to others.

Fuck them, indeed.

[woo me with science]

8. Corporations exist only for the bottom line of profit.

Corporate rule considers human beings to be "human resources."

We exist as entries in a ledger, and our worth is determined by how much profit we yield.

We are most profitable to our owners as workers.

This is why they want retirement to be a thing of the past. This is why child labor will return if we don't stop them. They want us to be useful from birth to death, running in their profit wheels.

This is why any program that reduces the desperation to work constantly in order to stay alive will be met with derision and contempt and attempts to eliminate it.

[dotymed]

9. Have you ever seen

a hearse followed by an armored truck full of cash?
Until our society realizes that wealth, like life, is transient, we will never stand a chance.
Sadly, most of the 1% are sociopaths. Corporations are by definition, sociopaths.

Citizens United unleashed the dogs of hell.