Medicare

‘Silent Sally’ tells some whoppers to the Green Valley News

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Two-time loser CD 2 GOP congressional candidate Martha McSally, who has been avoiding taking questions from the media (except the friendly confines of FAUX News) and even questions from her CD 2 constituents, was afforded an opportunity to “write about whatever you want” by Green Valley News editor Dan Shearer in advance of the one and only CD 2 GOP primary debate in which she will appear with her primary opponents this coming Saturday.

Liar-LiarMcSally has earned a national reputation for her unwillingness to state her position on issues and to simply answer the damn question from reporters, hence the “Silent Sally” moniker we have been testing out at this blog.

But after the op-ed McSally submitted to the Green Valley News, it’s time to drop the pretense and just call her what she is: a shameless liar willing to say anything without regard for the facts.

Let’s take a look at the whoppers told by Martha McSally in her op-ed:

Whopper #1. Social Security is going bankrupt

“Green Valley’s seniors have paid into Social Security and Medicare and they deserve exactly what they were promised. That has always been my pledge to seniors. To accomplish this goal, we must find common ground to stop these programs from going bankrupt.

At our current pace, Social Security will go bankrupt in 20 years; Medicare may run out even sooner.”

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Arizona Dems Split on ‘Back to Work’ Budget Vote

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by Pamela Powers Hannley On Wednesday, March 20, 2013, the US House of Representatives voted on a series of amendments to the Republican Majority Budget, penned by Rep. Paul Ryan.  The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) amendment, dubbed the Back to Work Budget, was one of yesterday's votes. It lost 84 to 327, with no Republicans … Read more

Liberals to Dems: Just Say ‘No’ to Cutting Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid

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300px-Keith_ellison-cropby Pamela Powers Hannley

In his recent talk in Tucson, John Nichols of The Nation warned against budget solutions proposed by the Fix the Debt Coalition, a group of 127 billionaires, "lesser millionaires," and corporate CEOs.

According to Nichols, this exclusive club of 1%ers is rolling out a $60 million advertising campaign to promote the new Simpson-Bowles Plan for debt reduction, according to Nichols. The original Simpson-Bowles Commission– dubbed the Cat Food Commission because of its cuts to senior citizen benefits– was infamously unpopular when it was proposed originally. The Simpson-Bowles redux may be even worse.  

How would the billionaires' club "fix the debt"? By reducing Social Security payments to the elderly and disabled, by raising the eligibility age for Medicare, by dramatically cutting Medicaid support for the poor, by eliminating the Affordable Care Act and changing Medicare to a voucher program for future recipients, by imposing austerity on 99%, and by [wait for it] lowering taxes on billionaires and corporations. 

This article (after the jump) from the Washington Post outlines exactly what Nichols warned Tucsonans about.

Progressive Caucus Releases ‘Back to Work’ Budget

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CPC-sidebysideby Pamela Powers Hannley

On Wednesday, the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) released its "Back to Work" Budget. Think of it as the polar opposite of the Republicans' "Stab Americans in the Back" budget penned by Congressman Paul Ryan and released earlier in the week. Special thanks to Congressman Raul Grijalva, co-chair of the CPC. Each year, the CPC releases a common sense budget plan. When will Washington DC listen, when will the Lame Stream Media cover it? Go to this link to tell your Congressional representative to vote for the Back to Work Budget.

Here is the summary from the CPC…

7 million new jobs in one year

$4.4 trillion in deficit reduction

We’re in a jobs crisis that isn’t going away.  Millions of hard-working American families are falling behind, and the richest 1 percent is taking home a bigger chunk of our nation’s gains every year. Americans face a choice: we can either cut Medicare benefits to pay for more tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires, or we can close these tax loopholes to invest in jobs.  We choose investment.  The Back to Work Budget invests in America’s future because the best way to reduce our long-term deficit is to put America back to work.  In the first year alone, we create nearly 7 million American jobs and increase GDP by 5.7%. [Details and graphics after the jump.]

John Nichols: Don’t Let the ‘Crooks’ Roll Back Years of Progress (video)

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JN-close106-sm72-sigby Pamela Powers Hannley

Author and historian John Nichols warned a packed house of Tucson progressives and unionists that now is not the time for complacency. Now is the time to rise up and fight against the forces of greed who are trying to rob the American people of their rights and their earned benefits.

Nichols, writer for The Nation and frequent commentator on MSNBC, held the audience in wrapped attention for 90 minutes as he carefully explained what the current Washington DC budget and debt reduction talks could mean for the American people if right wing conservatives like Congressman Paul Ryan and the Fix the Debt Coalition get their way.

The Fix the Debt Coalition is a group of 127 billionaires, "lesser millionaires", and corporate CEOs who are rolling out a $60 million advertising campaign to promote the new Simpson-Bowles Plan for debt reduction, according to Nichols. The original Simpson-Bowles Commission– dubbed the Cat Food Commission because of its cuts to senior citizen benefits– was infamously unpopular when it was proposed originally. The Simpson-Bowles redux may be even worse.  

How would the billionaires' club "fix the debt"? By reducing Social Security payments to the elderly and disabled, by raising the eligibility age for Medicare, by dramatically cutting Medicaid support for the poor, by eliminating the Affordable Care Act and changing Medicare to a voucher program for future recipients, by imposing austerity on 99%, and by [wait for it] lowering taxes on billionaires and corporations. 

"They are proposing to take from our vulnerable seniors, from our disabled– and let's be honest they're probably going to take the lunch money from the poor kids. They're going to take all that, so they can give the rich guys a tax cut," Nichols warned. More details and a video clip of Nichols' talk after the jump.