"Death To The Poor"

We should be making it very clear that the current GOP agenda truly is "death to the poor". The latest example is the very “serious” Ryan budget plan: destroy medicare and medicaid while further cutting taxes for the wealthy. Throw in the impending government shutdown, and the GOP is clear about where their priorities are. One good read: Paul Ryan and the New Politics of Sadism:

The object of his politics is to render political liberty subservient to economic exigencies, to render it an unaffordable luxury item available only to the wealthy, because only the wealthy are competent enough to exercise it. Ryan has come to the unremarkable intellectual conclusion that more people would rather inflict pain — even vicariously, even through his greasy sadist’s smile — than receive it. He has seen that dynamic in action. Even the White House, occupied for the nonce by a putatively progressive Democrat, has signed on in a gentler way to the notion that “austerity” is the way out of our current economic morass, and “austerity” is fairly defined in this context as making other people hurt so you’ll feel better about yourself. Unemployed workers, whose pensions were looted by Wall Street sharpers, rage against the pensions of public workers, not because those pensions are so gloriously lavish, but because they exist at all. Somebody has something you don’t and they must pay for that. Small wonder that Paul Ryan thinks he can grin his way to the dystopic wasteland that he sees when he dreams of a free country.

What is even worse is that Obama and the Dems are reacting with unfettered timidity. They should be screaming about the GOP''s direct assault on the vast majority of the American people, not cowardly attempting to "compromise" with these extremists. The "Ryan budget" should be the biggest political club used to bludgeon the repubs on a daily basis. It's a very simple message: "the republicans want to take money from you and give it to the wealthiest 1%." Sadly, that will not happen. I do have a personal stake in Ryan's attempt to destroy medicare: Ryan propose a voucher system for those currently under age 55, which could be used to get 'private insurance'. I'm currently 52, and while I'm in reasonably good health right now I have a very long list of 'pre-existing conditions' that will only get worse as I get older. In short, the Ryan plan would condemn me (and a huge number of people like me) to an early death. Steven D of Booman Tribune shares his tragic story GOP Wants to Kill Me (and You). I hope you'll read it. It's really beyond time to say "enough is enough" to the GOP's assault on us, the people. If we want American society to survive, we must stand up to the oligarchs efforts to reduce us to serfs.