Gallup fills us in on how those evil Hispanic voters support evil Big Guvmint, giving evil dictator President Obama another huge advantage over Willard Romney. Looks like some Americans appreciate things like Medicare, roads, stop lights, Medicaid, Social Security, police officers, fire fighters, teachers, consumer advocacy, emergency assistance, etc.
I’ve gotten to know someone recently, someone who I’ve posted about here before. Her name is Sally Kohn, and I suggest you keep your eyes open for her work. She’s an up-and-comer, is more and more visible on the Tee Vee Machine, is a wonderful commentator, a nice person, sharp as a tack, and should– and probably will– have her own show.
Please click over to her latest post. Here’s a tease:
How’d you get to work today? Did you drive on a road dug and paved by the private company you work for? Or maybe you took a bus or train that your employer personally invested in?
Over 90% of American school children attend public schools. Over 89% of Americans get the water in their homes from public water systems. One-in-ten households get electricity from public power plants, and those households are disproportionately located in rural, hard-to-serve communities that lack the incentives for private investment. Plus, recall that originally, even most private electrical grids were public investments — before they were sold into private hands. Plus don’t forget about the police and firefighters and search and rescue teams that hopefully you don’t need everyday but fortunately are there when you do need them. [...]
An all-powerful government is not the solution. But slashing government in order to provide more and more resources to big business and the super-rich who our government already bailed out and who are now reaping historic profits but still aren’t creating jobs — that’s not a solution, either.
Public schools, utilities, etc. are a very good thing. On the other hand, the GOP can be a public nuisance.
Please read the rest here.
This is a great idea, a necessity in fact, and long overdue:
Health care fraud once was a faceless crime. Now it has a mug shot, even a smile.
Medicare and Medicaid scams cost taxpayers more than $60 billion a year, but bank holdups are more likely to get greater attention.
The government wants the public’s help in trying to catch more than 170 fugitives wanted for fraud, so it’s developed a new health care most-wanted list, with its own website. Most are dour; some sport smiles.
Here’s one despicable example. The article goes into detail about others:
Topping the list are Miami brothers Carlos, Luis and Jose Benitez. Owners of a string of medical clinics, they allegedly scammed Medicare out of $119 million by billing for costly HIV drugs that patients never received or did not need. Authorities say they bought hotels, helicopters and boats before fleeing to Cuba.
Nice, huh? Way to care about your fellow man, guys.
Roy said he hopes this newest list will raise awareness about the importance of combatting health care fraud. Medicare and Medicaid, which provide care for about 100 million people in the U.S., are in serious financial trouble and can’t afford to be hemorrhaging tens of billions a year because of fraud.
I’m sure that suits many members of the GOP/tea party just fine since they don’t want Medicare and Medicaid around much longer anyway. Can the government put their smiling faces up on wanted posters, too?
Final consensus? The American people are butt stupid.
WASHINGTON — To ease surging budget deficits, Americans prefer cutting federal services to raising taxes by nearly 2-1 in a new poll. Yet there is little consensus on specific, meaningful steps – and a wariness about touching two gargantuan programs, Social Security and Medicare.
An Associated Press-CNBC Poll showed widespread anxiety about budget shortfalls exceeding $1 trillion a year. Eighty-five percent worry that growing red ink will harm future generations – the strongest expression of concern since AP polls began asking the question in 2008. Fifty-six percent think the shortfalls will spark a major economic crisis in the coming decade.
As for detailed cures, the poll shows little agreement – a problem that has long bedeviled lawmakers who often speak about taming federal deficits but seldom vote to do so. Given more than a dozen options for helping balance the budget, majorities backed just four: Reduce the number of federal workers, trim their salaries, cut overseas military bases and eliminate the tax deduction on home mortgage interest in exchange for lower income tax rates.
“I’m sure there’s waste somewhere,” said Terri Davis, 44, a travel company employee from Ashburn, Va. “But I like a lot of government programs that keep order in the streets, that do research about what’s dangerous. A lot of things are worthwhile.”
(snip)
Asked to choose between two paths for balancing the budget, 59 percent in the AP-CNBC Poll preferred cutting unspecified government services while 30 percent picked unspecified tax increases. Republicans leaned heavily toward service reductions while Democrats, usually staunch advocates of federal spending, were about evenly split between the two alternatives.
(snip)
In a reversal from last month, most people oppose extending expiring tax cuts for the richest Americans. Just 34 percent want to renew tax cuts for everyone; 50 percent prefer extending the reductions only for those earning under $250,000 a year; and 14 percent want to end them for all.
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