We, the Enemies?
The editorial “Debt & Taxes in DC” fails to mention proposed entitlement reforms that are being discussed in Washington right now. Cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid will devastate the poor and sick in this country. For people already living on the edge of financial ruin, taking away even a small percentage of their income is a recipe for disaster. And yet that’s what both parties are discussing.
In the interests of honesty, let’s call this what it really is: The US government is imposing economic sanctions on its own citizens. As we have done to populations in Iran and other “enemy states,” a huge segment of American citizens will be unable to afford decent food, shelter, or medical care if President Obama’s Grand Bargain/Great Betrayal includes cuts to the social safety net.
So millions of people who have been paying into the system for decades will not get what was promised when they could use it most. At least now we know how the richest nation in the world treats those in need – the same way it treats its enemies.
We, the enemies
The concensus solution to poverty was to cut welfare payments and deepen poverty as a sort of aversion therapy. So now we have a longevity problem in the retirement programs. Why is anyone surprised that the solution will be to defer care and cut nutrition thereby shortening longevity? If we don’t vow to slit electoral throats, what is the alternative?