This is from a news report today:
House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan said Sunday he will unveil a Republican budget for 2012 this week that proposes dramatic changes to Medicare, Medicaid and other political lightning rods.
The plan, to be released Tuesday, calls for a controversial overhaul of Medicare, the health care program for seniors, and would impose deep cuts in Medicaid, which provides health benefits to low-income Americans, Ryan told “Fox News Sunday.”
Starting 10 years from now, in 2021, elderly Americans would receive government help in paying health insurance premiums instead of enrolling in the government-run Medicare program, Ryan said. He rejected the label of “vouchers” for the payments, calling them “premium assistance” payments instead. …
In its analysis of the Ryan-Rivlin plan, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office said it involved vouchers. Republican sources have admitted to CNN that the term “vouchers” is politically explosive, especially for such a controversial set of changes like those being proposed by Ryan.
His proposal would only affect people younger than 55, with those 55 and older continuing to receive Medicare benefits under the existing system, Ryan said. …
In addition, Ryan said, his proposal would change the tax code to lower rates but eliminate some exemptions and broaden the tax base. Asked for specifics, he instead repeated the Republican mantra that the nation needed to cut spending to balance the budget and reduce deficits, not raise taxes. …
So, finally we begin to see what the Republican plan is. Though Father Orthoduck has not quoted it specifically in the quote above, here is what is boils down to:
1. Lower taxes on businesses, particularly on multinationals. After all USA businesses are paying too much. Look at GE for instance. It paid no taxes on a supposed tax rate of 35%. It even received some subsidies and paybacks. And, because it paid no taxes and received a subsidy, GE shipped out even more of its jobs overseas. GE laid off people in the USA to send the jobs overseas. Obviously its not paying taxes is simply not enough. We need to give them even more tax money as protection money (oops, did Father Orthoduck say that? He meant “incentive money.”) in order to keep them from shipping jobs out overseas.
2. Lower wages and benefits. After all, Americans already make too much money. It is important that businesses be able to forget about giving holiday pay, overtime pay, or offshift pay. And, 40 hours a week is too low an expectation. If Americans would only make less money, while businesses paid even less taxes, why the economy would magically recover, and even if it did not, why business owners would be able to live the lifestyle to which they are fully entitled. Let’s not make our businesses or business owners sacrifice in any way whatsoever. God loves the rich and simply puts up with the poor.
3. Privatize Medicare. Trust that Americans will completely forget that those who had privatized retirement benefits suffered greatly when the economy tanked a couple of years ago. Rely on the fact that young people will not believe that the same could happen to them. Promise those over 55 that they will not be touched so as to split the population of the USA. Once enough babyboomers die off, there will be time to renege on even this agreement. After all, we are already reneging on promises made to anyone under 55, so why should we keep any promises to those over 55? Saint James only meant “let your yes be yes,” to apply to non-business purely church settings. Besides Martin Luther was right to doubt that his epistle was really canonical, as no true apostle would have said the things that he said about the rich.
4. Come close to eliminating Medicaid. The poor only deserve to die. If they need medical treatment and cannot afford it, why it is their problem, not ours. After all, we are not our brothers’ keepers. Cain was right; Abel was wrong. Besides, “brother-keeping” is a Church function. The State should never have been involved in it. If the poor are not taken care of, why it is the fault of the Church and only of the Church. Of course, since supposedly we are “once saved always saved,” we may be in trouble with the Lord about not taking care of the poor, but ultimately we will be in heaven regardless, so why worry about it?
Do cuts need to be made in the USA budget? Absolutely, every program needs to come in under the knife. But, cutting is not enough to ensure a balanced budget. Corporations have not been paying their fair share for many years. GE is not the only USA corporation who uses the many many available loopholes in the tax code. But, more than that, all too many Republicans only support businesses and show little to no support for workers. It is time for Christians to read again the Scriptures that have to do with the poor and ask themselves from where in our Judeo-Christian culture comes the idea that somehow we must support the rich at the cost of the poor. In passing Father Orthoduck would actually endorse a flat tax, provided that it was a true flat tax with no loopholes. The supposed problem is that we have a purported 35% corporate tax rate. But that tax rate is not paid by any of the major corporations. That tax rate is only there as an election day punching bag which allows businesses to sob crocodile tears while paying little to no taxes. A mandatory flat tax rate would actually mean that most corporations would pay more than what they are paying now!
But, you need not believe Father Orthoduck. Should all the Tea Party proposals pass, you will only need to wait a couple of years, and then you will be shocked at what the result will be.
Late note: Oops, maybe you do not need to wait even a couple of years. See the quote below from a news story from late yesterday:
Declaring 2010 “the best year in safety performance in our company’s history,” Transocean Ltd., owner of the Gulf of Mexico oil rig that exploded, killing 11 workers, has awarded its top executives hefty bonuses and raises, according to a recent filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
That includes a $200,000 salary increase for Transocean president and chief executive officer Steven L. Newman, whose base salary will increase from $900,000 to $1.1 million, according to the SEC report. Newman’s bonus was $374,062, the report states.
Newman also has a $5.4 million long-term compensation package the company awarded him upon his appointment as CEO in March 2010, according to the SEC filing.
The latest cash awards are based in part on the company’s “performance under safety,” the Transocean filing states.
Let the workers die. Let them earn less money. Let them have fewer benefits. At the same time increase the wages of the officers of the company responsible for lowering operating and labor costs, even if they result in the death of workers. After all, workers are replaceable, safety costs money, and the explosion will mean tax credits for lost production and lost equipment. This is Tea Party world now.
Food for thought today, Father. I fear for our country, for the deep divisions and for the loss of love for our fellow man…and for our Church that has somehow seemed to find more importance in backing politicians that further divide us instead of doing the work of Jesus and caring for the least of these. I pray unceasingly for our leaders to be truly listening to the Spirit instead of giving lip service to God. Is. 1:11-17, 23
A conversation with Simon Legree, from Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, chapter 31:
“I don’t go for savin’ niggers. Use up, and buy more, ‘s my way;—makes you less trouble, and I’m quite sure it comes cheaper in the end;” and Simon sipped his glass.
“And how long do they generally last?” said the stranger.
“Well, donno; ‘cordin’ as their constitution is. Stout fellers last six or seven years; trashy ones gets worked up in two or three. I used to, when I fust begun, have considerable trouble fussin’ with ’em and trying to make ’em hold out,—doctorin’ on ’em up when they’s sick, and givin’ on ’em clothes and blankets, and what not, tryin’ to keep ’em all sort o’ decent and comfortable. Law, ‘t wasn’t no sort o’ use; I lost money on ’em, and ‘t was heaps o’ trouble. Now, you see, I just put ’em straight through, sick or well. When one nigger’s dead, I buy another; and I find it comes cheaper and easier, every way.”
Ted,
What do you have against black people at a time when some of them are striving to improve themselves?
Uh… J.D…. Could you read that through, one more time?
Harriet Beecher Stowe’s book is probably the single greatest factor in gaining popular support against slavery in the pre-Civil War USA. The character Simon Legree is the iconic dastardly villain, and Beecher Stowe’s portrayal of him painted a picture in the minds of many about the horrific treatment of slaves. Even Abraham Lincoln credited the author with helping to end slavery.
My posting of this quote was in support of Father Orthoduck’s satirical last paragraph, “Let the workers die. Let them earn less money. Let them have fewer benefits. At the same time increase the wages of the officers of the company responsible for lowering operating and labor costs, even if they result in the death of workers. After all, workers are replaceable, safety costs money, and the explosion will mean tax credits for lost production and lost equipment. This is Tea Party world now.”
I might have used a quote from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, in which Ebenezer Scrooge says similar things about the poor of England, during about the same period as Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Here is a link to that conversation, and if you’re interested, scroll down about a third of the way, and begin with “‘Are there no prisons?’ asked Scrooge.” The quote I’m thinking of ends in, “‘If they would rather die,’ said Scrooge, ‘they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.'”
http://www.stormfax.com/1dickens.htm
If it’s my inclusion of Beecher Stowe’s use of the “N” word that you object to, I can’t apologize. People need to remember that this is how many people talked and acted against African-Americans in 1852. And in 1952. And even today. These bigoted, exploitive ideologies need to be exposed, and Father Orthoduck is doing a good job exposing the extreme measures of all who would exploit the poor, the poor of any color.
Fr. Ernesto, you are exactly right, and I wish this post could get published in every church newsletter and stocked in every pamphlet rack. It makes me very sad that if it went up on the bulletin board at my Orthodox church, no doubt someone would angrily tear it down in no time. Lord have mercy on us all.
I am disappointed in Father Orthoduck’s attitude. Perhaps he would care to share his rosy precidtion of our future if the far left gets everything it wants?
Which “left”?
Are we talking about the economic left, the social left, or some combination thereof?
Cuz everything the social left wants, it will get if the economic RIGHT wins. Abortion? Completely consistent with right wing, social darwinist, unrestained, winner-take-all capitalism. Gay marriage? Does it affect the bottom line? Then what’s the problem?
Anyway, what are the chances of the left, ANY left, getting all it wants in the foresseable future vs. the chances of Mr. Ryan and company getting everything they want, or even a major portion?
You been to Wisconsin, or Ohio, or Florida, or Michigan, of New Jersey lately?
You left out Maine. Our new governor is the Mad Hatter of the Tea Party.
You know, it is funny how so many have this idea that if the republicans do not get it their way, the “far left” will take over. You may want to travel to Europe and see what life can be like. I work in a private company, make good money, pay not more taxes than US workers do, enjoy elections way more free than Americans can only dream of.
Yet I enjoy free health care in a society where we believe that something is just fundamental rights. Like help, if you are unfortunate, and need it.
You need to understand, that believing this, does not make you a communist. I know you were brought up to believe that public health care = communism, but you know, it is not the case. The right wing politicians here believe in public health care, even. They want free marked, yet they also understand that everyone can be unfortunate, everyone should have basic rights. So, the right-wing in Europan politics is regarded far-left by you guys. What in the WORLD do we define OUR far-left as, the few people (think they are under 1% in my country) who think communism is a great idea?
And then it is the lies that you are served. How public health care does not work. How horrible it is. How people DIE waiting for treatment.
Here is the clue. There is something between the tea party and the far-left. We call it a mixed economy. It is the realization that some things are best left to the state, while most other things are open for the private parked.
(Addendum: “Marked” and “parked” should both have been “market”, sorry…English isn’t my first language.)
It’s okay, my friend. How may I contact you?
Since Father Orthoduck is not far left, he could certainly do a prediction, but it would not be in the least bit rosy. He cares no more for the far left than for the extreme right.
But, look at the comment below from Europe on a mixed economy. The problem is that for the Tea Party, there is only them and the far left. Any social proposal of any type is automatically considered by the Tea Party as being Marxism waiting to happen. This is extreme thinking. The deliberate legal destruction of unions, of Medicaid, of the EPA, of any and every program that dares to say that society has a responsibility to care about workers, the poor, and the environment shows the incredible far-right stance of the Tea Party.
But, far worse, the attitude that no large business should have any regulation to the point that the rich are getting richer off of the backs of the middle-class takes the Tea Party from simply far-right thinking all the way into clearly un-Biblical thinking. When unions are being broken and workers are being forced to take lower salaries while their bosses pay themselves large bonuses, there is something clearly wrong. There is NO Biblical support for some of what the Tea Party is willing to allow and support if a large business owner does it.
And, again, Father Orthoduck repeats, any who believe in any type of government regulation is classified as far-left by the Tea Party. This excludes any possibility of moderate solutions.
Father Orthoduck said: “But, far worse, the attitude that no large business should have any regulation to the point that the rich are getting richer off of the backs of the middle-class takes the Tea Party from simply far-right thinking all the way into clearly un-Biblical thinking.”
Some of the irony comes from our own fellow Christian believers, whose unbiblical thinking echoes that of Friedrich Nietzsche, whom they often denounce as the one who said “God is dead” and who held an anti-Christian philosophy. But they fail to recognize that they themselves are following Nietzsche’s philosophy of the “will to power” or that “might makes right” and that “the superman [Übermensch] is the meaning of the earth”.
This morning on the radio I listened to Martin Luther King’s speech entitled “Beyond Vietnam”, delivered 44 years ago today. He also accused some people of following Nietzsche:
“This call for a worldwide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond one’s tribe, race, class and nation is in reality a call for an all-embracing and unconditional love for all mankind. This oft misunderstood, this oft misinterpreted concept, so readily dismissed by the Nietzsches of the world as a weak and cowardly force, has now become an absolute necessity for the survival of man. When I speak of love I am not speaking of some sentimental and weak response. I’m not speaking of that force which is just emotional bosh. I am speaking of that force which all of the great religions have seen as the supreme unifying principle of life. Love is somehow the key that unlocks the door which leads to ultimate reality. This Hindu-Moslem-Christian-Jewish-Buddhist belief about ultimate reality is beautifully summed up in the first epistle of Saint John: ‘Let us love one another, for love is God. And every one that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love.’ ‘If we love one another, God dwelleth in us and his love is perfected in us.’ Let us hope that this spirit will become the order of the day.
“We can no longer afford to worship the god of hate or bow before the altar of retaliation. The oceans of history are made turbulent by the ever-rising tides of hate. History is cluttered with the wreckage of nations and individuals that pursued this self-defeating path of hate. As Arnold Toynbee says: ‘Love is the ultimate force that makes for the saving choice of life and good against the damning choice of death and evil. Therefore the first hope in our inventory must be the hope that love is going to have the last word.'”
Has Father Orthoduck been listening to Dr. King lately? They are saying the same thing, that the Tea Party just doesn’t get Jesus.
Speaking as someone just turning 30, no one my age that I know ever believed we were going to get medicare or social security. I’m not sure if West Wing made up the quote “more people between the ages of 20 and 30 believe they will see a UFO in their lifetime than see a Social Security check”, but even if they did: it certainly reflects the reality of our outlook.
For many of us, that isn’t a big deal. Social Security is just a tax like any other. My own parents and my husband’s parents will be benefitting soon, and getting taxed to give money for living and healthcare to our elders is fine and proper. They raised us, we can support them. Some people are bitter, but I propose that they probably would be less so if they saw it as their parents and grandparents rather than a faceless crowd.
That isn’t to say it isn’t a low down dirty trick to buy off the AARP so you can sneak the change in, it is. But we’re already split from the above-55’s. Their lives happened in the era of meaningful safety net, some of them even suceeded at proper retirement. We pay into the safety net, but given generation population numbers and politics, won’t see the same benefits ourselves.
I’ll continue to vote for a safety net, campaign against vast cuts in funding for healthcare and the elderly and equipment for people with disabilities. I just don’t have any hope that will actually change the outcome.
It isn’t because I have a rosy view of even more privatized health care! My insurance company makes money by denying me care, not by providing it. Now they’re squeezing my local pharmacy out by only covering longterm medication if I mail order it from them. I’m not even sure how that’s legal, except that our entire economic system has given over to the concept that greed is good.
Yes, it has, Tokah: the great mantra, “greed is good.”
However, all question of right and wrong and justice aside, the system as it is evolving is simply not sustainable. Because of this, it almost imploded in 2007. The only reason it did not was because of truly herculean infusions of cash, both from the Federal Reserve and the federal government. This has staved off catastrohe, but, because not enough of this money made it to the bottom, given how the system is currently structured, that is all it did, and here we are, on the verge of a double-dip recession.
In the meantime, more and more people, having been hanging on by their finger nails, are falling off into the economic abyss. Eventually, a critical mass will be reached and, one way or another, for good or ill, fundamental economic and political change will result.
I don’t disagree! I’ve never expected Social Security because the current system just can’t hold up. I just wanted to explain that we young people were already jaded, and those of us who aren’t complaining don’t complain because at least our own elders benefit as long as it lasts.
And we appreciate it, Tokah!
I’m just sayin, the key is resetting the tax system so that those at the very top, that one percent who are raking in 9 of those 10 cookies, start paying their fair share. If we do that, if that happens, we can then do what we really need to do, and that is, EXPAND Social Security and Medicare.
The other option is to reset the system so that those at the very top are no longer getting virtually all of the income. That, in the long term, has to be done, but in the meantime, we need to readjust the tax system.
If we don’t do either, if we continue the way we are going, things are going to be worse for you and for your generation than you can possibly imagine…
More and more often, I hear from people who are looking forward to the first Military Coup.
And ALL of them are looking forward to a resulting Fuehrer who agrees completely with them.
I love this; you couldn’t have summed it up better!
Tokah,
I want to thank you for being willing to pay for my medicare and social security. Although I really don’t need it, I will take it anyway because that’s what we are supposed to do in a society that. I am discovering additional things that I can also get such as a free lunch and recreation program given to all seniors regardless of earnings. So again, thanks. I’ve never felt so well taken care of, but again that’s the expectation of our society now. I’ll enjoy the free lunch before heading out to the golf course.
I visit and help people at our local nursing home. They get a kick out of me because I’m in a powerchair myself and speak the medical lingo of old age. Their lives are hard enough day to day that I don’t feel the need to have a government inquisition about who really needs help.