Saturday, June 30, 2012

Republican governors and Medicaid


Some of my friends have noticed that I am walking like an old man. I am an old man, but I’m walking like a really really old man.  Evidently I have some form of arthritis, and it has advanced rather fast.  My family doctor referred me to a rheumatologist, and I recently had thirteen vials of blood drawn for various tests.  I have also undergone two rounds of therapy for my left shoulder, but that didn’t help, so last week I had an M.R.I., which showed a torn tendon at the rotator cuff.  I expect I’ll get some kind of medicine for the arthritis and probably some surgery for the shoulder.
I’m lucky.  I have Medicare.  Thank you Democratic Party and Lyndon Baines Johnson.  I also have medical insurance thorough my retirement.  Thank you California Faculty Association, AFL-CIO, for those contract negotiations.  I hate to think of what my life would be like without the medical care I receive.  
What about people in Texas and Louisiana and Wisconsin who have no insurance and don’t qualify for Medicare, but could benefit from Medicaid expansion guaranteed under Obama administration programs now in place?  Sorry.  Republican governors of those states are turning down federal money for Medicaid recipients to make some sort of ideological point. 
Let’s be honest about this.  Those Republican governors are saying to thousands of their constituents:  if you need pain medication, suffer.  If you need rotator cuff surgery, suffer.  If you need cancer treatment, die. I know that is harsh.  It is also the truth.

Thursday, June 28, 2012

So sue me


Last Sunday night in what in retrospect was a cry of despair, I wrote how a politicized Supreme Court would declare the Health Care Bill unconstitutional. I have a Ph.D. in political science.  I taught Con Law.  I know these things.
Except when I don’t.
I’ve heard that this will energize the right, but think what the right would be saying if the Court had struck down the bill.  I’m growing more optimistic about the November election.  I hope I’m right about that.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Scalia, the crabby old man


In his opinion on the Arizona immigrant law, Justice Scalia criticized President Obama’s executive order on young immigrants who are not citizens, but who came to the U.S. as children.
This was not part of the issue before the Supreme Court.  Scalia’s views on Obama’s policy were irrelevant.  If Scalia wants to legislate, he should leave the Court and run for the House or the Senate.  I’m not sure of the protocol of the Supreme Court, but I think the other justices should censure him, or at least tell him to act like more like a justice and less like a commentator on Fox News.  What a disgrace to the judicial system.

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Show us your papers


In high school I went through a Wold War II period, reading every novel and history on the war that I could find, from Ernie Pyle to Norman Mailer.  One genre involved true life escapes or attempted escapes from German prisoner-of-war camps.  Those stories generally featured an inmate who was an expert forger.  It was the forger’s job to provide the escapees with the identification papers people were required to carry in Nazi Germany or the areas under its control.
I thought then how terrible it would be to live in a country where the police could demand your identity papers at any time.  

Monday, June 25, 2012

Executive privilege


To anyone born before 1950 the phrase “executive privilege” brings to mind the efforts of Richard Nixon to prevent Congress from obtaining evidence relating to his misdeeds.  The term is not mentioned in the Constitution, and there was some question at the time as to whether the claim of executive privilege had any validity whatsoever.  
In “U.S. v., Nixon” the Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that the doctrine of executive privilege could not be used to withhold material related to an impeachment or crimes, but it also recognized that the President could keep material secret if it related to national security.
I know almost nothing about “Fast and Furious” other than it was an operation to trace guns to Mexican drug lords that went awry; one of the guns ended up killing an American agent.
Now a House Committee wants documents about “Fast and Furious.”  If the Justice Department refuses to give up these documents, it appears to be hiding something.  Heck, it is hiding something.  Obviously I have no idea what is in the documents, but I will bet you it is embarrassing to someone in government.  
This is no time for the Obama administration to be coy or invoke a Nixonian doctrine.  Refusing to hand over the documents will be far worse than any embarrassment they might cause.

Sunday, June 24, 2012

It's not over


Tomorrow the Supreme Court will probably issue its opinion declaring the Obama administration’s health care legislation unconstitutional.  The Supreme Court is now as political as the Senate or House, issuing opinions based not on the Constitution or precedent, but on ideology.
If I’m right, we have to start the whole health care policy debate again.  After all, thousands of people die every year for lack of health care insurance, and the U.S. will still have a lower life expectancy than Costa Rica and a higher infant mortality rate than Cuba.  The problems the health care bill tried to address will still be with us.
I thought about this tonight when I was reading a review of a book on the history of the Gay Rights movement entitled “Victory.”  The reviewer, Rich Benjamin, took the author to task for using that title.  Benjamin wrote in the Times Book Review that
...social movements are not “won,” any more than most social wars (against “terror,” “drugs” and so forth) are “won.”  Social progress proceeds in a push-pull ebb and flow of advancement and backlash.  America’s women have made enormous strides in political representation, even as their reproductive rights remain vulnerable to the regulatory fiat of the state and the moralism of political paternalists.  The labor movement, the immigrant movement, the antiwar movement, the environmental movement, the poor people’s movement:  can any say they’ve won? 
I’ve gotten many complaints about the title of this blog.  Sajeonogi--how do you pronounce it; what does it mean?  I don’t speak Korean--I’m not even sure it is a Korean word.  What I’ve been told it means is “knocked down four times, rising up five.”  That is the spirit thoughtful and liberal people must live by.  We can’t quit.  If the health care bill is declared unconstitutional, get up off the canvas.  Shake it off.  Keep fighting.

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Canvassing in New Columbus


Technically New Columbus is now part of the borough of Nesquehoning.  When it was settled originally, it was the Italian section.  You can tell that by the street names:
Columbus, Marconi, Garibaldi, DaVinci, Padua, Messina, even Little Flower, Mayor LaGuardia’s nickname.
Lorraine and I canvassed it for the Obama campaign this morning, and it went well.  We met a very strong supporter at the very first house we visited.  Her husband, on the other hand, was not.  They had a big argument, and she told him, “When you lose your Medicare and your Social Security and are lying in the gutter, I’m not picking you up.”
Most of the people on our list were favorable, but we did run into one guy who said Obama was trying to take away his guns.  The N.R.A. told him.  One of the rules is that we aren’t supposed to argue with people, but I told him the N.R.A. was using him to get his dues money.  That really made him mad, so we shouted at each other for a minute or two.
We also met two Jehovah’s Witnesses working one of the same streets.  We chatted a while--it turned out we knew them.  People who canvass door-to-door, be they Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, or Obama volunteers have certain common experiences--the occasional slammed door, fear of large unleashed dogs, and tired feet, especially in towns built on hills. 
I’ll be at it again next Saturday, when we are doing a “labor-to-labor” walk.  I’ve done those before, and you almost always get a good response.

Friday, June 22, 2012

Lincoln-Douglas debates they aren't


One of the advantages of not watching television is that one misses all the crap being broadcast every day.  Tonight I was trapped at Lehighton Hospital waiting for an MRI, forced to listen to “Jeopardy.”  In the 20 or so minutes it was on, I heard--but didn’t watch--three anti-Obama ads quoting him saying “The private sector is doing ok.”  
I read about this last week in the Times.  In the context of Obama’s speech, the statement made sense.  He said later in the day that he obviously knew that private sector employment was a major problem.  The man is not stupid.  Yet here were these ads, three in 20 minutes.
By the way, in the  Lincoln-Douglas debates, the first speaker was allotted an hour.  The second speaker than had an hour and a half to respond.  The first speaker was then allotted a half hour for a rejoinder.  I’ll save you the trouble of adding it up.  It comes to three hours for each debate.  
In one of them Mr. Douglas made fun of Lincoln for thinking that blacks were equal. The audience laughed. Lincoln, harking back to John Locke and the right of property, said that what a slave earned by his own sweat should be his, and to take it from him violated the natural rights he was born with.  The audience, aware of Locke’s philosophy, clapped for Lincoln.
I can imagine how disgusted television viewers are at present-day spots.  Ads like this depress turnout and make voters cynical.  That also benefits Republicans.  I’d tell you to turn off your tv, but no one ever does.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Dumb as a box of rocks


Today in the Palmerton Hospital cafeteria I complained to the staff about having to watch Fox “News.”  The TV had a sign underneath it warning people that the sound and channel were not to be adjusted on orders of the Administrator.  The woman who took my money said she had nothing to do with the TV, but she did turn it off for me.  Later, I heard another cafeteria worker say she was voting for Romney because he “looked more presidential,” and she didn’t like the way the country was heading for socialism.
If that isn’t enough to depress you, how’s this?  A Gallup poll found that 46% of respondents said yes to this statement:  “God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last ten thousand years or so.”  
Guess what the percentage was for college grads.  It was 46%, same as the rest of the population.  Sixteen years of American education, and almost half of college grads are able to set aside paleontology, geology, archaeology, genetics, and biology for a fairy tale.  
If you believe in God and believe he created you, why wouldn’t you use the brain he gave you?

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Becoming a follower


Over the past year a number of my friends asked me what steps they must take to become a “follower” of Sajeonogi. 
Here’s the explanation.  When the blog was set up, I had a choice of allowing anyone to make comments or only allowing “followers” to make comments.  My friend Jesse, who knows about these things, said if anyone is allowed to make anonymous comments, the blog would attract obscene and obnoxious replies.  He advised me to allow only followers who had registered to voice their opinions.  
Unfortunately, it is not all that easy to become a follower, as some of you may have discovered.  I asked my other friend Jeremy (yes, I have two) to give me the step-by-step instructions on how to do it.  I think it is amazingly complicated, and I’m pretty sure I couldn’t do it, but here’s what Jeremy wrote:
1.  Log onto:   https://accounts.google.com/

2.  Click the “Sign up” button on the corner.  Or cut and copy this address:  https://accounts.google.com/SignUp?continue=https%3A%2F%2Faccounts.google.com%2FManageAccount

 3.  Fill out the appropriate information.  You will get a new email account from gmail.  This is a must.  You won’t have to use the email account but you will need it to get a handle.

4.  Click next on all steps to move forward.

5.  Once complete, go to Roy’s Blog.  http://poorroy.blogspot.com/.  Then click “Sign In” in the top right hand corner. 

6. Clicking on the Sign-in button will move you to the Google page where you need to sign in with the log-in you just created.

7. This will continue you to the “Blogger” page.  You need to scroll down and click “Continue to Blog.”

8. Now go back to Roy’s blog, and you should see your new gmail address up top.

9.  You now can post!
We’ll see.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Two horse jokes, one not so funny


First joke:
Horse walks into a bar.  Bartender says, “Why the long face?”
Second joke:
“The Romney’s declared a loss of $77,000 on their 2010 tax returns for the share in the care and feeding of Rafalca, which Mrs. Romney owns with Mr. Ebeling’s wife, Amy, and a family friend, Beth Meyers.”  (quote taken from the article entitled “Horse Co-Owned by Ann Romney Earns a Spot on the Olympic Dressage Team,” page 19 of the June 17, 2012, issue of the New York Times.)  
Rafalca, as you may have gathered, is a horse.  The joke is on us.

Monday, June 18, 2012

Voter ID confusion


Today at an SEIU workshop, participants were told that the Pennsylvania Department of Motor Vehicles would issue a picture ID on the basis of a utility bill--no birth certificate required.  I also heard from a reliable source that the DMV would obtain a copy of a Pennsylvania birth certificate for the ID at no charge to the applicant.
We were told by the County Registrar that an absentee ballot applicant did not need a photo ID; simply the last four digits of the Social Security number, although that is not on the absentee request form.  Later we heard that applicants were required to send in a photocopy of their picture ID.
Perhaps I am being paranoid, but it seems to be that the confusion on the rules might be deliberate.  We only have a few months left to register voters, and we still don’t have a definitive set of rules.  If definitive rules do exist, perhaps someone can tell me where they are located.  People hold the Pennsylvania legislature in low regard with good reason.

Sunday, June 17, 2012

He's never coming back


Romney must be glad he’s put Carbon County behind him.  He spoke to an unenthusiastic crowd in Weatherly.  His people were so worried they forced a peaceable high school student to leave the audience.  He proposed more of the same discredited ideas that got us into this economic fix.  (Remember the definition of insanity--doing the same thing and expecting different results.)
Finally, the press conference held in Weatherly after Romney departed was well-covered in the local media.  Billy O’Gurek, Democratic County Chair, said he was pleased Romney had come to the area because it gave the Democrats a chance to contrast their own policies.  If you want to check out O’Gurek’s remarks, here’s the link: <http://standardspeaker.com/news/democrats-obama-has-done-plenty-has-great-plans-1.1330945>.  I think you’ll like it.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Welcoming Romney to Weatherly


This small town bus tour of the Romney campaign is actually a smart move.  Small towns are interesting in their own way, and Romney won’t draw crowds of protestors that he might in a large urban area.  
It was a beautiful day to stand outside with our signs.  Mine said, “Cancel your trip to the Caymans--we have a bank in Nesquehoning.”  (For those readers in Belgium, Nesquehoning is a small town about six miles from Weatherly.)  Linda looked good in her “Etch-a-sketch” costume, but I suspect many people didn’t get it.
Our moment came when a reporter from Fortune Magazine interviewed us.  He seemed surprised that Obama had won Carbon in 2008, and I assured him we would do that again in 2012.
We were a small group--three labor union reps (five if you count Linda and me) and seven from Carbon County Democratic clubs, four of whom arrived in our car.  We did get moved off the property of the Casting Company by the Weatherly police, but they seemed almost apologetic, and it was too nice a day to argue.  
Bronson from our group went inside to hear Romney, but the rest of us milled about with our signs.  Next to us, and marginally friendly, were two Ron Paul guys.  Another separate group was about 100 yards away with a sign that said “Romney = Bigot,” which I didn’t think accomplished anything.  
We probably didn’t accomplish anything either, but I would be feeling guilty if Mitt showed up in Carbon and I wasn’t there to welcome him.

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Romney details

Romney will be in Weatherly at the Weatherly Casting Machine Company, speaking at 8:45 a.m. on Saturday.  Doors open at 7:45, and if the restrictions are like those for Obama rallies, you won't be able to get in with a sign or poster, and you'll have to go through a metal detector.


I'll be driving up with Linda.  We'll leave at 7 a.m., which is way outside of my comfort zone, but I can't pass this up.  Evidently this is the start of a bus tour for Romney, and I'm hoping at least a few protestors will be there with us.  


I'm thinking my poster will say:  "Mitt's new experience:  Riding a bus."  I also thought of using "I'll believe corporations are people when Texas executes one."  I rejected "Hey Mitt, you suck," as way too impolite and "Mitt Romney:  Love child of the Koch Brothers" as too obscure.  



Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Mitt Romney visits Obama Country


Mitt is coming to the Carbon County borough of Weatherly early in the morning on Saturday, June 16.  I’ll try to find out more about locations and times and let you know where you might be able to meet Mitt and ask him a few polite questions.
Here are mine.
The Utah Compact is represents an attempt to develop a humane and reasonable immigration policy.  Are you supporting the Compact?
Should teenagers be allowed to carry concealed handguns?
Would you appoint activist judges like Scalia and Roberts to the Supreme Court?
What role will Donald Trump play in your administration?

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Abortion and poor women


Some rights are hollow if you have no money.  Freedom of the press is great if you are Rupert Murdoch and own a television network.  The freedom to donate money to political campaigns guaranteed in “Citizens United” doesn’t mean much to the regular working stiff.  And the right to an abortion means little if you can’t afford one.  
You can’t do much about owning a television network or giving millions in campaign contributions, but Katha Pollitt, writing in The Nation in the April 9 issue, has a suggestion for doing something about abortion funding.  You can make a contribution to the National Network of Abortion Funds, P.O. Box 170280, Boston, MA 02117.

Sunday, June 10, 2012

The Rabenold event


Today Ron Rabenold had a barbecue at the Bowmanstown Rod and Gun Club catered by “Oinkers.”  It was classic Americana--barbecue, hot dogs, corn, beans, rolls, and ice cream, with soda and beer to drink.  Attendees ranged in age from a few months to the late 80s.  In the near distance someone was practicing on the rifle range.  
Speeches by Congressional candidate Matt Cartwright and PA House Representative Mike Carroll fired up the crowd, and Ron Rabenold then gave his pitch on why he should be elected.  Jeremy Haloskie from Penn Forest was the M.C. and did an excellent job.  
Will Rabenold win in November?  If enthusiasm is an indicator, he will.  I also think people are starting to see that while his opponent, Mr. Heffley, may be an ok guy on a personal level, his voting record is killing education, the environment, women’s rights, and the future of Pennsylvania.  As one person said today, “I wouldn’t mind having a beer with Heffley, but I sure don’t want him representing me in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.”

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Penna. Dems and Gay Marriage


Today the State Committee of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party held its summer meeting in King of Prussia.  Committee members by more than 2/3rds voted to endorse gay marriage.  I sure do like being a Democrat.
Meanwhile Rickie Santorum announced he is forming a million man group to push his values.  Why doesn’t he just go away?

Friday, June 8, 2012

Solidarity Forever, My Butt


Last year on the bus on the way to the labor rally on behalf of striking hospital workers in Stroudsburg, we sang “Solidarity Forever.”  It’s a rousing song with the right sentiments.
Now we find out that building trade unions in New York contributed $500,000 to the Committee to Save New York, a major ally of Governor Cuomo in his fight with public sector unions.  We find out that one-third of union households, presumably private sector unions, voted for Governor Walker in the recall.  
Do private sector union members really think the anti-union activity of the Republican Party will stop with public unions?
Twelve percent of the American work force is in a union.  State after state is considering “right to work for less” laws.  State stores are under attack.  Union organizers are intimidated and fired with no meaningful action by the NLRB.  Postal employees are laid off.  Legislators propose to end prevailing wage laws.  
This really is not the time to bicker among ourselves.  Karl Rove and the Koch Brothers do not have worker interests at heart.  Nor does Romney.  There are those who work and those who live off those who work.  Which side are you on?  

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Summer break?


Most of the Democratic clubs in Carbon County hold no meetings during the summer.  The Lehighton Area Democratic Club is meeting in August, but the CCDC, the Palmerton Club, and the Executive Board of the County Party are all skipping July and August meetings.  
I think this is a mistake.  I don’t know what the County Republicans or the 9/12 rightists are doing, and frankly, I don’t much care, but I think two months in this election year are too important to skip.  True, each of the aforementioned Demo groups is holding a picnic and staffing a booth at the fair, but you can’t plan strategy at a picnic or the fair booth.
Nonetheless, the Party will remain active.  The Headquarters at 110 S. First Street in Lehighton will remain open at least three days a week--more by July.  We will run voter registration and ID assistance out of the HQ, and we will continue to recruit volunteers and supporters.  
The Republicans will have more money.  They are already trying to suppress Democratic turnout.  They will go dirty.  We have five months until election to counter them, and we will need all five.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

$1.7 billion


That’s the amount Gov. Corbett is proposing in tax breaks for Shell Oil over the next 25 years to build a petrochemical refinery.
Republicans are amazing.  They believe in free enterprise and market forces until they don’t.  Why would Shell, one of the richest and most profitable corporations on the globe, need a tax break?
Billy O’Gurek, who keeps on top of these things, said Shell had planned to build the plant anyway, whether or not it received tax breaks. 
Corbett is the same governor who last week proposed eliminating general assistance to the poorest 70,000 Pennsylvanians.  
My grandmother-in-law used to say that Republicans couldn’t enjoy a meal unless they knew someone else was starving.  I think she was on to something.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

The Wisconsin Race


Ecclesiastes 9, verse 11, says, “I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong....”  I like Damon Runyon’s version better:  “The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but that’s the way to bet.”
In politics, the candidate with the most money doesn’t always win.  On the other hand, when one candidate outspends the other by over two to one, that’s the way to bet.  
In the Wisconsin race as of May 21:
Republicans--$45.6 million
Democrats--17.9 million
I’d bet on Walker.
Tonight I made phone calls for Barrett, Walker’s Democratic opponent.  We called out of the Carbon County Democratic Headquarters, and it was a slick operation.  A name popped up on the laptop with address and phone number.  You called, recorded your results on the screen, pressed complete, and the next name popped up.  We called until 8 p.m., which was 7 p.m. Wisconsin time.
I told the voters I was calling from the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, and we had an interest in the race because our own governor was an admirer of Scott Walker, and we needed to send him a message.
One nasty lady yelled, “you don’t have an interest--this is a Wisconsin matter.”  After I hung up, I thought of a comeback--did you tell that to the Koch Brothers and Karl Rove?  Why do I always think of these things after I hang up?

Monday, June 4, 2012

The Dam Builders


My cousin Carol was throwing out some old papers and came across a brochure entitled “Beltzville Dam and Reservoir:  A Multiple Purpose Project” from July 1966.  According to the brochure, the estimated cost of construction would be $18.4 million, while the cost-benefit ratio would be 2.1 to 1.0.  That meant that for every dollar spent, the Beltzville project would return $2.10 in benefits.
In case you are wondering how the Corps knew the cost-benefit ratio that precisely, the answer is:  They made it up.  The Corps included water supply, reduction of flood damage, and, of course, recreation.  That is where they got the “Multiple Purpose” label.
The Fifties and Sixties were the dam-building decades.  Every year the Corps and the Bureau of Reclamation would propose projects in various congressional districts.  This was pork barrel politics at its finest, and Congressman Dan Flood, our congressman at the time, was a master of pork.  We can credit him with Beltzville and Bear Creek dams.
Three developments put the brakes on dam building.  The first one was the fight over Glen Canyon Dam on the Colorado.  Although the dam was eventually built, environmentalists learned that such projects were not inevitable and could be opposed with some effect.
The second was Tocks Island.  The proposed Tocks Island Dam would have inundated the much of the northern reaches of the Delaware River.  Land for the project had already been purchased, and plans were under way when opposition finally killed Tocks Island.  Today that land is the Delaware National Recreation Area.
Finally, bless his heart, was Jimmy Carter.  Carter, a white-water canoeist, opposed dams because they were usually environmental disasters and a waste of federal funds.  He killed 19 projects his first year in office.  Carter was followed by Ronald Reagan, who had opposed a number of projects while he was governor of California.  The Corps never again recovered its former glory.  
I will return to this subject again, but tomorrow I plan to talk about Scott Walker, after I get back from a phone bank to Wisconsin voters.  That’s right.  I’m one of those out-of-state union thugs.

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Farm Subsidies


Name a government agency in this country that works well, is funded to its proper level, and satisfies the public interest.  The TSA?  The FBI?  The Defense Department?  They either don’t work well or, like the U.S. Postal Service, don’t receive enough funding to work well. 
Then there’s the Department of Agriculture.  Earlier this year I, along with about 100 other interested individuals, attended a hearing on whether or not the local Farm Service Agency office should be closed.   I have never been to a hearing that wasn’t window dressing, and the hearing at the Big Creek Grange was no exception.  Some legal requirement to hold the hearing was satisfied, but we all might as well have stayed home.  The office on Route 209 will be closed, and local farmers must now travel to Bethlehem for services.  
Congress has demanded that the Ag Department cut back--it has to meet the 2011 Budget Control Act requirements.  Among the items (besides our local office) being cut in this year’s farm bill is $6 billion from environmental programs.  At the same time, crop insurance is expected to cost $9 billion a year.  The bigger the farm, the larger the crop insurance subsidy.
Robert Semple’s article entitled “Where the Trough Is Overflowing” in today’s New York Times contained a chart detailing which farmers received what direct payments and price supports between 1995 and 2010.   It looks like this:
The top 1% received 26% 
The next 9% received 50%
The next 10% received 14%
The bottom 80% received 10%
     62% of the farms received no subsidies and price supports.  I’m in the 62%.

Saturday, June 2, 2012

The employment figures


Romney is in full throat mode, attacking Obama for not doing better in creating jobs.  This coming from the candidate of a party that did everything possible to stymie legislation to jump start the economy.  It is the same party that in Pennsylvania and other Republican-dominated states laid off hundreds of thousands of public workers.
If Romney were president right now, I wonder what he would do about the problems in the Euro zone.  What would he do about the economic slowdown in both China and Japan?  What would he do about the crisis in Greece?  (My friend George suggested that he might buy Greece, but given his record at Bain, I don’t think that would help.)
If I understand the Republican positions correctly, they plan to increase employment by cutting government programs (except the ones they like), ending regulations, and cutting taxes.  
Aren’t those the policies that got us into this mess in the first place?  If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, Romney should be institutionalized.

Friday, June 1, 2012

Explaining Corbett's cuts


Corbett has decided to cut the $205 monthly cash grant to 70,000 Pennsylvanians.  According to the Morning Call article by Marion Callahan, the money goes “...to disabled, unemployed Pennsylvanians without children, those fleeing domestic violence, adults caring for the sick or disabled, adults in drug or alcohol treatment programs and children living with an unrelated adult.”
I’ll bet out of that whole 70,000 people, no more that two or three contributed to Corbett’s campaign.  What good are people like that to him?  They aren’t “job creators.”   You can’t give them tax cuts.  They aren’t Texas companies fracking for natural gas.  Probably most of them don’t even vote.  
Right now this is a proposal.  We have to depend on legislators like Senator Argall and Representative Heffley to say no to this.