This Is What Republicans Do

Here is what Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) is up to.

From ThinkProgress:

Scott will invoke his “emergency powers” to impose a 15 percent cut to the rates charged by group home workers and case workers that help the 30,000 Floridians with cerebral palsy, autism, and Down Syndrome.

He is going to sacrifice aid to cerebral palsy, autism, and Down Syndrome sufferers to do what?

Scott says the cuts are necessary to address a $170 million deficit in the Agency for Persons with Disabilities — but at the same time, he is also proposing $1.5 billion in corporate tax cuts and $1.4 billion more in property tax cuts.

 Do you think that maybe, just maybe, he could have proposed $1.4 BILLION in corporate tax cuts and $1.3 BILLION in property tax cuts, and not have to cut rates paid to helpers of 30,000 American people with cerebral palsy, autism, and Down Syndrome? 

Maybe, just maybe, help some people who need REAL help?

What Happens When Corporations Run The Government?

Here is what happens.  These are a couple of quotes from an email by MoveOn.org.

According to The New York Times, last year General Electric (GE) made over $14.2 billion in profit, but paid NO federal tax.¹ None.

In fact, thanks to the millions GE spent lobbying Congress, we American taxpayers actually owed GE $3.2 billion in tax credits.²

Now GE is slashing health benefits and retirement benefits for new employees among non-union workers and is expected to push unions to accept similar cutbacks³, while its CEO, Jeff Immelt, gets a 100% pay raise.⁴

What's worse? Immelt now sits as chair of the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness (Jobs Council), representing corporate America to the President on matters like job creation and corporate taxation. That's a slap in the face to every hardworking, tax-paying American—especially GE employees.

One of the chief ways GE avoids paying taxes is by shifting a large portion of its profits overseas, and jobs follow.⁵ Now GE's CEO is the person charged with helping the President create jobs here in America. That's just perverse.

And if the American people got back just the $3.2 billion GE took in tax credits, it would pay for the programs that House Republicans want to gut, like community health centers providing care to over three million low-income people⁶ and food and health care assistance to pregnant women, new moms, and children.⁷ We'd even have enough left to save the jobs of over 21,000 teachers across the country.⁸

The American deficit is being weighed down by hundreds of billions spent on bailing out major corporations. The tea party's plan is to make working families pay through devastating cuts, instead of making corporations with billions in profits pay their fair share.

But if we can hold Immelt accountable for GE's corporate irresponsibility, the nation will turn its attention to the injustice of corporate tax evasion in the face of the Republicans' budget-slashing attack on working families.

 The foxes have taken over the hen house.

When Is News Not News?

I have a friend, a very intelligent friend.  He has a PhD in engineering.  He is also a conservative and fundamental christian.  We talk sport, not politics or religion.  We went out to lunch the other day.  We were talking about television and what the future hold for television. 

He made an interesting comment.  He said that he does not watch much television, just sports and Fox News.  What I found interesting is that he identified the news he watches as Fox News, not just "The News".  If it was me, I would say I watch the news and not identify it any further.  I, in fact, watch a variety of news programs, on a variety of networks.  I keep confusing which channel is NBC, CBS, ABC, etc.  I know where the program is, but not necessarily the network.

Yet, he doesn't just watch the news.  He watches "Fox News" -- like it is different from any other news.  Well, I guess it is.  It is really more propaganda than news.  The few times we have discussed politics, and I point out the errors of his thoughts, thoughts he got from Fox News, he agrees with me.  But he still watches it.  I think it is wishful thinking.  They report things the way he wishes it was, rather than the way it really is.

This is a problem because when you watch only one version of the news, you have nothing to compare it to, and it becomes difficult to tell the difference between truth and fiction.

Tsunami Impact

Here are some incredible pictures of the devastation in Japan.  They are before and after pictures superimposed on top of each other with a slider that you can move back and forth to see what the given area looked like before the tsunami and after the tsunami.

Profit Trumps Health

Once again republicans are putting profit ahead of health.  This from Thom Hartmann,

Republicans are trying to defund an online database set to launch in a few weeks that would make public safety complains against companies available for the public to view. Republicans argue the database will lead to companies having to pay to fight lawsuits. Currently - complaints are kept secret. On top of that - Republicans are working to stamp out new safety regulations that stop toxic products from being brought in from overseas - claiming these new regulations cut into the profits for their CEO buddies.

 They not only want to give all your money to the wealthy and corporations, they don't care if you die in the name of profits.

Voting republican can be dangerous to your health...and the health of your children.

Why Not These Cuts Instead

In my last post I showed how $61 Billion dollars in budget cuts proposed by the House republicans will result in the loss of 700,000 jobs.  Republicans are trying to balance the budget on the backs of the poor and the hard working Americans.

If there was any doubt that republicans want to balance the budget on the backs of the poor and the hard working Americans, just look at their latest maneuvers in the House.

• The republicans voted down a Democrat motion to recommit that would have stripped the five largest oil companies of taxpayer subsidies, saving tens of billions of dollars in taxpayer funds.  TENS OF BILLIONS OF DOLLARS!
• A similar vote two weeks ago to recoup $53 billion in taxpayer funds from Big oil was also voted down.  53 BILLIONS OF DOLLARS

 In case you are feeling sorry for the poor oil companies, the made $485 BILLION DOLLARS in profits between 2005 and 2009.

Why not stop giving money to the oil companies rather than taking away benefits to people who need them to live?