I was just reading a news story about the anticipated results of negotiations on extending the Bush Tax Cuts. An eye-opening line was that if the Republican desire - a permanent extension of the tax cuts to those earning $250,000+ - the result will be a cost of $700 billion over the next ten years. I truly hope that if this permanent extension should happen, progressives and others will remember that little statistic, and bring it up regularly in the 2012 campaign for President of our country.
I am amazed at the short memory of people when applied to the national deficit. Bush Sr. helped continue Reagan's big spending and left a huge deficit when defeated for the presidency by Clinton, who, over eight years, reduced that deficit, in fact, as I recall, erased it. When "W" took office, the deficit burgeoned more and more. After his eight years, we were in deep trouble - but for some strange reason, the Democrats got the blame. Our president took office, with the economy in the tank, and got Republican support for bailouts, but then they turned on him, blaming him for the horrible condition of the economy.
Reality bites, and I'm hoping it will bite those who put us in this mess and then played the blame game! It is time to hold people accountable for their public posturing and their actual performance.
Olbermann had a story that AZ Republicans, in order to cut $5 million from the state's budget, cut transplant coverage for everyone on their state-run health care plan. Their rationale was that "only 15% of people waiting for transplant actually get matched to a donor" and "it doesn't really save lives". WTF?!?
ReplyDeleteIncluded in people who lost coverage for a transplant are a kid with leukemia, (an anonymous donor paid for it); a father of 2 with a heart condition, who can now only get a transplant if he can raise the million needed to pay for it. And a father of at least 4, who needs a liver transplant. He actually had a compatible liver donated by a friend who died. However, it happened after this "cost saving measure" went into place. Because his family hadn't raised the $200,000 needed, the liver went to someone else.
And Republicans accused the Democrats of "Death Panels"!