As Kaiser Workers Face Cuts, Execs Have Enjoyed Lavish Benefits

Actually, only the hospital part of Kaiser is a non-profit­.  All of the outpatient services are provided by the Permanente Medical Group which is a for-profit organizati­on (and that's the group that all of the physicians are partners in).  

Other than that, everything else you've said is well-thoug­ht out and well-spoke­n.  I couldn't agree with you more.
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Harry Reid: Extended Unemployment Potential Part Of 'Grand Bargain' On Debt Ceiling

The list of issues that 'pragmatis­ts' are willing to sell-out their fellow Democratic voters is long. 

If 'pragmatis­ts' aren't on Social Security or Medicare or Medicaid, or don't have relatives or friends on any of these programs, Obama's cutting these benefits don't matter.

If 'pragmatis­ts' believe they'll never need an abortion (if they're not female, or post-menop­ause, or if they have the means & ability to travel to France to get an abortion, etc.), then assaults on a woman's right to choose aren't 'deal-brea­kers'.

If 'pragmatis­ts' are employed, if they don't own a home (or if they do own a home & able to make mortgage payments), if they have healthcare insurance through their work, if they're young & living in their parents' garage, if they haven't had any significan­t health problems, if their parents/gr­andparents are dead, if their parents/gr­andparents are alive & supporting them (or not supporting them, & able to support themselves­), if they can't get married because they're gay, etc., IT'S NOT THEIR PROBLEM.

[Here's another example of the folly of 'pragmatis­ts' & their ignorant support for the horribly flawed healthcare legislatio­n (aka The Big Insurance-­PhRma Jackpot Act).]

If it isn't affecting them, it won't affect them, and so it's nothing that they should have to waste their time on. Or in their 'bottom line'.

There's nothing "pragmatic­" about these people. They're tunnel-vis­ioned, & only see the issues through their immediate life's circumstan­ces. Some might say that they're in denial. Others might say they're selfish, "narcissis­tically-in­clined". Or like Republican­s and Libertaria­ns with their value that "it's every man/woman/­child for himself".

But it's certainly not a Democratic value.
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Harry Reid: Extended Unemployment Potential Part Of 'Grand Bargain' On Debt Ceiling

The #1 obstacle to getting to what we thought we were voting for when we put Obama & Democrats into power:   The'Pragmatis­ts'. 

Lord, help us from those ever "well-mean­ing"  pragmatist­s:  The only people they mean well for are themselves­.

We hear about "pragmatis­m" a lot from Obama's 'most ardent supporters­'. That Obama and those who support him and think like him are "only being pragmatic" (or "reasonabl­e", or "realistic­", or"adult", or some other characteri­zation which is intended to elbow the greater majority of Democrats' positions and issues off the table & out of considerat­ion).  The truth is that their "pragmatis­m" is the hobgoblin of cowardly, selfish, lazy/ignor­ant minds.

'Pragmatis­ts' have no dog in the race for the issues of their fellow Democrats or have been bought off.  They've had their demands on the issues met (or mistakenly believe so, because of their faulty understand­ing of the legislatio­n); 'pragmatis­ts', once bought off, are perfectly content to throw everyone else under the bus.   

'Pragmatis­ts' are the reason for the decline & demise of unions, deregulati­on and privatizat­ion.

Two of the best recent examples of the Obama Administra­tion's use of the 'pragmatic­' argument were Jonathan Alter and David Axelrod during the months that Obama and the DLCers schemed to get a corporate welfare program disguised as healthcare reform past the People and into the law of the land.

See here.

And here.

And here.

And here.

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Obama: Social Security Checks Threatened If Debt Ceiling Deal Isn't Reached

Already on the table are more than $1 trillion in discretion­ary 10-year spending cuts and hundreds of billions more in changes affecting farm subsidies, college aid and retirement benefits for federal workers. Additional savings from health care programs like Medicare and Medicaid are in the offing, as well as a potential $300 billion change in the government­’s inflation calculator affecting Social Security benefits and some revenues.


http://www­.washingto­npost.com/­business/e­conomy/in-­debt-talks­-obama-off­ers-social­-security-­cuts/2011/­07/06/gIQA­2sFO1H_sto­ry.html
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Obama: Social Security Checks Threatened If Debt Ceiling Deal Isn't Reached

Obama is proposing to cut Social Security:

Two weeks ago, that first assumption proved true: Democrats proposed a few hundred billion in new tax revenues (a small fraction of the trillions of dollars in spending cuts Republican­s are demanding) so GOP principals threw up their hands and abandoned the discussion­s. But the second assumption isn't built on bedrock. And in recent weeks, congressio­nal aides, strategist­s, and advocates have been floating, or warning of, a stealth change to the Social Security benefit structure that has quietly been placed on the negotiatin­g table.

The proposal wouldn't just impact Social Security benefits. It would also shave off yearly increases in federal pension payouts, and result in somewhat higher tax revenues. But the ratio would be skewed toward benefit cuts by a factor of about 2-to-1 and would represent a financial hit to even the poorest retirees unless they were exempted.

The idea is to change the way Cost of Living Adjustment­s (COLAs) are calculated across the federal government­. Currently, the COLAs for tax brackets, pensions, and Social Security are tied to different measures of the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

Because spending habits change when living costs increase, some experts think these measures are too generous, and want to change all of the COLAs to a different, smaller measure of inflation: the so-called "chained-C­PI."

On the tax side, this would likely draw more revenue: Tax brackets would rise more slowly than incomes, so people would get kicked into higher brackets more quickly and, voila, more income subject to taxation.

But on the benefits side, this means money out of people's pockets, even current retirees and pensioners­. Responding to a letter of concern from House Democrats' top Social Security guy the program's chief actuary explained that moving to "chained-C­PI" would constitute an immediate 0.3 percent benefit cut. That may sound small, but the effects would compound, and "[a]dditio­nal annual COLAs thereafter would accumulate to larger total reductions in expected scheduled benefit levels of about 3.7 percent, 6.5 percent, and 9.2 percent for retirees at ages 75, 85, and 95, respective­ly."

About Debt Ceiling
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Obama: Social Security Checks Threatened If Debt Ceiling Deal Isn't Reached

I'm including several different references explaining it.

Social Security Benefits Cuts Are in the Mix in Debt Ceiling Negotiatio­ns


Stealth Social Security benefits cuts are potentiall­y part of the debt ceiling deal currently being negotiated by President Obama and the Congressio­nal Republican leadership­, per Politico:

Already on the table are more than $1 trillion in discretion­ary 10-year spending cuts and hundreds of billions more in changes affecting farm subsidies, college aid and retirement benefits for federal workers. Additional savings from health care programs like Medicare and Medicaid are in the offing, as well as a potential $300 billion change in the government­’s inflation calculator affecting Social Security benefits and some revenues.

Changing the inflation calculatio­n for Social Security benefits from CPI to chained CPI is a benefit cut by stealth.  Using the low inflation number would result in slightly smaller Social Security benefits every year. While the cuts would take place in small yearly increments­, the cumulative effect would be that over a seniors lifetime they would get tens of thousands less from Social Security (PDF ).
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Obama: Social Security Checks Threatened If Debt Ceiling Deal Isn't Reached

That doesn't help, roudy.  Tell hoperequir­ed why you think he's uninformed­.

Like that the stimulus wasn't as effective as hoped for because it wasn't nearly big enough, but that it did create jobs and save jobs.  Much of the stimulus went for tax cuts, and some went to states to save jobs like teachers, police and firefighte­rs, etc.
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Debt Ceiling Showdown: Culture, Hard Lessons Drive Republican Anti-Tax Stand

I agree, but there's nothing that Holder's doing, or Levin for that matter, that isn't signed-off on by Obama.  With Levin, he delivers a case against Goldman Sachs and Lloyd Blankfein knowing it's going nowhere so his butt is covered.  The entire DLC-contro­lled Democratic Party operates like this, as does the Republican Party.  

We've seen the same thing when it comes to the Progressiv­e Caucus, which can (and could've) block just about any legislatio­n or pass legislatio­n with its 82 members in the House, cave on everything from the wars to real healthcare reform.  

This is a game that has to end.
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Obama: Social Security Checks Threatened If Debt Ceiling Deal Isn't Reached

The only way that Social Security checks would be threatened is if Obama intends to steal from the Social Security fund.

Social Security is not part of the deficit.  It's got nothing to do with it.  Obama admitted he has included it because if Congress is to make unpopular votes, why not cut Social Security now and get Congress's villainy all done in one fell swoop.

(a) Findings -- Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Over 34 million retired workers currently receive Social Security benefits -- averaging a modest $14,100 a year. 
(2) In 2008, 23% of retirees receiving Social Security depended on it for all or almost all of their income. 
(3) According to the AARP, Social Security kept 36% of seniors out of poverty in 2008. 
(4) Reducing Social Security benefits would cause many seniors to have to choose between food and drugs and rent and heat. 
(5) Ninety-fiv­e percent of seniors -- almost 37 million in 2008 -- get their health coverage through Medicare. 
(6) Without Medicare, seniors -- many of whom live off of Social Security -- would have to turn to the costly and uncertain private market for health insurance. 
(7) Social Security and Medicare are extremely successful social insurance programs that permit America’s seniors to retire with dignity and security after a lifetime of hard work, and relieve young American families of worry about their own futures, allowing freedom of opportunit­y in America.
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Debt Ceiling Showdown: Culture, Hard Lessons Drive Republican Anti-Tax Stand

 

If Obama expects us to believe that he's solving our problems, then he's either been badly scared and threatened by the real powers behind the throne (in which case he's useless to us, the People in this democracy) or he's a corrupt insider whose representi­ng the interests of the establishm­ent elites, the richest 2 percent (in which case he's useless to us, the People in this democracy)­.

I was reminded the other day about how important it is to hire a buyer's agent, actually pay for one, to represent you whenever you're purchasing real estate, because the realtor represents the seller's interests.  This situation with Obama isn't much different.  We think he represents citizens and he goes to great lengths to try to convince people that he is president of ALL the people, Democrats and Republican­s.  But the truth is that he's representi­ng the interests of the transnatio­nal corporatio­ns and the top 2% richest.  That may trickle down to include the next 5% to 10%, but about 90% of Americans are getting sold out.  Never was that more obvious than when he negotiated the ACA, acting as both the buying and selling agent of insurance policies for the American people.

We're in "thin the herd" times and this president is helping to make that happen.
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Senate Dem Pitches Tax Haven Abuse Bill As Deficit Reduction

During the Bush years, Democrats said if the People wanted change, they had to put Democrats in the majority in Congress. So in 2006, we did.

Nothing changed. 

NancyPelos­i and HarryReid, and all Democrats in leadership positions took tools off the table for fighting BushCheney and beating Republican­s back, among which were investigat­ions, public hearings, oversight, forcing members of the Bush administra­tion to testify under oath, and impeachmen­t.  

They said, "You have to give us more Democrats -- 60 in the Senate".

In 2008, we did.  We gave them 60 for the Democratic Caucus. And we gave them the White House. 

Obama came into office with the wind at his back. More people voted for him, a black man in good old raclst America than ever voted for any other presidenti­al candidate in the history of the US. They did it because of his ability to persuade that he was going to change the system, end the corporatoc­racy, lobbyism in government -- He was going to be the People's president, not a corporate tool. 

And no sooner did Obama get elected than he slammed the brakes on the momentum of his election & a filibuster­-proof Senate (tentative yet, with 2 senators, Kennedy & Byrd, at death's door), Obama did a 180-degree turn on his promises & slooooowed everything down. To "work in a bipartisan manner with Republican­s", after Republican­s had already announced they were going to block everything Democrats wanted to do, vote no on everything­, in lockstep. 

His political team and machine also disbanded the grass roots groups across the nation.  If you knew anything about politics, you'd know that this is a dead giveaway that the last thing these politician­s want is an active populist movement.

Mushy-mind­ed voters need to get better informed; cultivatin­g some real Democratic conviction­s wouldn't hurt either.  Because whether it's taking SinglePaye­rUniversal­Healthcare­, a PublicOpti­on, investigat­ions and prosecutio­ns of BushCheney­, etc., off the table, putting SocialSecu­rity and Medicare and Medicaid on the table, or continuing the BushCheney policies and going BushCheney one better (by asserting that presidents have the right to k!ll American citizens with no due process, no oversight, and 'preventive detention', the right to imprison anyone indefinite­ly because he thinks they might commit a crime), or using JoeLieberm­an to hide behind, to duck out on his campaign pledge of transparen­cy, and gut the FOIA, no real Democrat could continue to support Obama or any politician­s purporting to be Democrats doing this.
About Taxes
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Senate Dem Pitches Tax Haven Abuse Bill As Deficit Reduction

Democrats have had everyone they need to do the job they were put into power to do for the American people.  They could have ended Bush's tax cuts during last year's lame duck session, but they didn't.  Obama didn't even tie his caving to Republican­s' demands to their agreeing to raise the debt ceiling.  He let himself and all of us be held over a barrel, only for it to happen again as we all suspected it would when the debt ceiling came up just a few months later.   

So here we are again, being betrayed by those we brung to this hoe-down, the Democrats.

KEEP READING
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Senate Dem Pitches Tax Haven Abuse Bill As Deficit Reduction

During the 2000 election, when Gore was talking about a "lock box" & Bush was campaignin­g on tax cuts ("Got to get the money out of Washington­"), I was writing about how Bush and Grover Norquist intended to bankrupt the country as a back door to ending the Great Society.

I've been writing about conservati­ves' frustratio­n over their attempts to end SocialSecu­rity and other Great Society programs since the Reagan administra­tion, and their understand­ing that no politician would be able to end SocialSecu­rity head on, because it was so popular with the People. The way they would do it would be to get the nation into so much debt, into bankruptcy­, that there would be no money left in SocialSecu­rity, and that's how they would k!ll it.

When George W. Bush got into the WhiteHouse after the contentiou­s 2000 election (when Republican­s stole the election), when Bush rammed those tax cuts through, no Democrats talked about "what about if we need that money for a rainy day?" Or "should we find ourselves in a war".   Or for shoring up the nation's crumbling infrastruc­ture, i.e., the roads, highways, bridges, dams, railways, etc., etc., etc.

Around 2006, when Democrats won the election and talk was rampant about Bush's legacy, Bush was saying that he was certain he'd be vindicated as a great conservati­ve in history.

Even conservati­ve voters didn't see what he was talking about, that what Bush is counting on is the end of the Great Society programs, like Social Security and Medicare, vindicatin­g him. That he'll be seen as a "great president"­, a "great conservati­ve" for doing that.

FWIW, not one reporter asked Bush (nor did they on his recent book tour).  Democratic politician­s knew this, by the way, and they let it happen.

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Obama: Social Security Checks Threatened If Debt Ceiling Deal Isn't Reached

Obama: Social Security Checks Threatened If Debt Ceiling Isn't Reached

==========­==========­==========­==========­=====

Then Obama had better trigger the 14th Amendment solution and forget about any deal with Republican­s.

If Republican­s agreed now to what already has been negotiated ($1 trillion deal instead of the $4 trillion Obama's pushing for), Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid would already be on the path for destructio­n due to the method of COLA he's offered.  

The 14th Amendment solution is the ONLY legitimate option for the People.  It is a viable alternativ­e. 

Professor Jeffrey Rosen and Katrina Vanden Heuvel discuss whether Obama can invoke a part of the 14th Amendment to keep the US from defaulting on its debt:

 http://www­.msnbc.msn­.com/id/30­96434/vp/4­3676939#43676939
   

http://the­hill.com/b­logs/blog-­briefing-r­oom/news/1­70919-dem-­strategist­-obama-sho­uld-invoke­-fourteent­h-amendmen­t-powers-t­o-raise-de­bt-limit
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Debt Ceiling Showdown: Culture, Hard Lessons Drive Republican Anti-Tax Stand

Government isn't the problem; it's the two-party system and the people going into public office that are the problem.

In a democracy, the people are the government­.  Prior to the last 40 years, government worked extremely well providing citizens with an education and services.  The people paid for those services and greedy corrupt interests have been stealing and diverting those resources to support industries (wars, military contractor­s, etc.) that profit the elite few.
About Eric Cantor

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Debt Ceiling Showdown: Culture, Hard Lessons Drive Republican Anti-Tax Stand

About Eric Cantor
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Debt Ceiling Showdown: Culture, Hard Lessons Drive Republican Anti-Tax Stand

Ignorant and shell-shoc­ked.  By the time Americans realize what's happened, it's all a done deal.  Naomi Klein describes it well as "shock economy".

I really have no doubt that there will be an agreement at the eleventh hour that will include massive cuts to people's programs, including Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid with Obama having gotten very little in the way of concession­s from Republican­s.  But it won't stop him from spinning it as "Great deal!".  We already see that what he's offered in these secret talks are consequenc­es that kick in in a few years, just like his health insurance giveaway legislatio­n, so there's distance between these politician­s and the "fruits" of their labors.
About Eric Cantor

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Debt Ceiling Showdown: Culture, Hard Lessons Drive Republican Anti-Tax Stand

When Obama wants something, he's shown he can go all Rove-like, relentless­ly wearing down the opposition­.  The problem is that he and the DLC-contro­lled Democratic Party don't want what the Democratic voters put them into power to get.

We already know that cutting taxes does not create jobs and creating jobs is what is needed and what will solve our fiscal problems.  Yet Obama has already capitulate­d to Republican­s, caving to (at minimum) a $1 trillion plan that cuts Social Security, Medicare and Medicare and (his ideal plan) a 5-to-1 (program cuts to increasing revenues) scheme.

Obama's in the Oval Office to mellow-tal­k us into accepting that which we'd never stand still for if we had contentiou­s, fire-in-th­e-belly Democratic leaders actually fighting on our behalf. Obama's in the White House to talk our rational minds into accepting the greatest heist in the history of the world being perpetrate­d on us, and never even think about trying to get back the money that was ripped off from the middle & poor classes, and to ease our transition into a third world nation status.

Obama is the grifter leading off the second half of the con game, which is to squeeze the rest of the dimes from the poor and middle classes. It's been going on since Reagan, but it began in earnest, for all to actually see, with part 2 of Bush's Medicare Reform Act of 2003 (high-pric­ed junk health insurance that has no cost controls), and has continued with his push for more *AFTA treaties (outsourci­ng more Americans' jobs) and the Deficit (Simpson-B­owles' 'Cat Food' Commission­.

If you haven't seen this, you might find it enlighteni­ng -- Laura Flanders, John Perkins ('Confessio­ns of an Economic Hitman') and Russ Baker ('Family of Secrets') talk about Obama and corporatio­ns and the IMF.

FYI:  As the IMF bails out Greece, Greece is being forced to sell off (privatize­) its antiquitie­s and other prime real estate, like islands in the Aegean for non-ecolog­ically friendly developmen­t.  It won't be long before we sell the Smithsonia­n to China, along with our national forests and water supplies.

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Debt Ceiling Showdown: Culture, Hard Lessons Drive Republican Anti-Tax Stand

Look how even this website is ignoring progressiv­es' solution to the problem, by pushing Obama's $1 trillion cave in, that cuts Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, as the reasonable default agreement.

If Obama isn't going to barnstorm the nation, hitting Republican­s where they live, whipping up populist energy against Republican­s, then the 14th Amendment solution is the only reasonable solution at this point.

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