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$21
By Paul Johnson
$14.97
$21
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Flickr/Fortune Live Media
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A group of corporate CEOs that contributed to the burgeoning deficit crisis want the poor and elderly to largely pay for the mess the greedy Wall Street fat cats helped create.
Posted on Nov 26, 2012
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kevin dooley (CC BY 2.0)
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A group of CEOs led by Macy’s Terry Lundgren calling itself the Fix the Debt coalition is hoping for a deficit-busting austerity budget this holiday season—not a program to create American jobs.
Posted on Nov 22, 2012
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The president and Congress reaching a “grand bargain” would mean significant cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid; some Republican senators believe Obama is using a Cold War-era mind-control technique on American citizens; meanwhile, millions showed up to the largest coordinated strike Europe has ever seen. These discoveries and more after the jump.
Posted on Nov 18, 2012
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At a mid-November meeting of the Defending Social Security Caucus, the Vermont independent issued a fiery warning against cutting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid to President Obama, congressional Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats.
Posted on Nov 17, 2012
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Flickr/TexasGOPVote.com
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Ralph Nader —
Congress is still talking about a “Grand Bargain” that “balances” far more spending cuts than tax increases. That is another way of saying that you – the consumer of Medicare and Medicaid services, the recipient of Social Security, and the average taxpayer — will take the brunt of the spending cuts.
Posted on Nov 14, 2012
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Pete Souza/The White House
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By Robert Reich — Assuming the goal is $4 trillion of deficit reduction over the next decade (that’s the consensus of the Simpson-Bowles commission, the Congressional Budget Office, and most independent analysts), here’s what the President should propose.
Posted on Nov 12, 2012
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kenteegardin (CC BY-SA 2.0)
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An article by author and economist Jeff Madrick in the November issue of Harper’s Magazine offers an antidote to the view that social spending—not anemic tax revenues—is the cause of America’s deficit problem, and argues that such policies are adopted only out of “political deference to the rich and powerful.”
Posted on Oct 23, 2012
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By David Sirota — If we can’t have a debate about Social Security before we make a presidential choice, at what point can we ever have such a debate in a way that honors our democratic ideals?
Posted on Oct 4, 2012
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Flickr/Gage Skidmore
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By Robert Reich — You want real entitlement reform? President Obama has begun it. Rational people would make sure he gets a second term.
Posted on Aug 21, 2012
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Daryl Cagle, Cagle Cartoons, MSNBC.com —
Posted on Aug 15, 2012
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A look at the day’s political happenings, including Romney budget specifics and why the 2012 Congress could be one of the worst ever.
Posted on Aug 15, 2012
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AP/LM Otero
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Social Security. The United Nations. Mandatory immunizations. Critical thinking. Implanting a radio chip in your body. It sounds like a pretty random list, but in reality these are all things Paul Begala found that Texas Republicans opposed when he read the state GOP’s platform.
Posted on Jul 9, 2012
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Photo by Gage Skidmore
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A look at the day’s political happenings, including a top Obama administration official facing a contempt vote, a new birther conspiracy and “Daily Show” host Jon Stewart takes on Fox News (yet again).
Posted on Jun 20, 2012
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Flickr
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A new report issued by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development has advised governments to increase the retirement age in their countries. In the face of longer life expectancies, a higher retirement age is the only way to keep pension programs solvent, it says.
Posted on Jun 12, 2012
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AP/Butch Dill
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The U.S. once led the world in free education. The recent debate in Washington about whether to let student loan interest rates double ignores the fact that many students already cannot afford a college education or advanced training.
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Andrew Morrell Photography (CC BY-ND 2.0)
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“Which federal program took in more than it spent last year, added $95 billion to its surplus and lifted 20 million Americans of all ages out of poverty?” finance columnist David Cay Johnston asks.
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jamiehladky (CC-BY)
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Something interesting happens when hardworking, fiscally minded Americans find themselves on the public dole: They resent the government that lends a hand and feel guilty for accepting help. A major article from The New York Times documents the anxiety, frustration and confusion of a growing class of dependent Americans.
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Fabricator of Useless Articles (CC-BY)
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Most Americans think that the big government entitlement programs—Social Security and Medicare—are a good thing. But young and old part company, according to a new Pew report, over the current effectiveness of the programs and what to do about it. (more)
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AP / John Minchillo
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By Amy Goodman — If 2,000 tea party activists descended on Wall Street, you would probably have an equal number of reporters there covering them.
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Eric Allie, Caglecartoons.com —
Posted on Sep 15, 2011
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Flickr / carolyntiry
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Mike Lofgren retired this summer after 28 years as a congressional staffer, 16 of which he spent on the Republican side working with the House and Senate budget committees, and he wants to tell you something about the nature of the current Republican Party. (more)
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Photo illustration from an image by Colin Grey
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Is the president a bad negotiator, or did he get the deal he wanted all along, as Rep. Dennis Kucinich suggests? Also on this week’s Truthdig Radio in collaboration with KPFK: the phony Social Security scare, teaching Shakespeare in Iraq and more.
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Is the president a bad negotiator, or did he get the deal he wanted all along, as Rep. Dennis Kucinich suggests? Also on this week’s Truthdig Radio in collaboration with KPFK: the phony Social Security scare, teaching Shakespeare in Iraq and more. Update: Full transcript.
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Flickr / Borya
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On Sunday, President Obama and members of the U.S. Congress agreed to cut at least $2.4 trillion from federal spending over the next 10 years, some of which will come from programs that benefit retired Americans. (more)
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AP / Carolyn Kaster
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By Robert Scheer — Republican hypocrites are out to settle ideological scores that have nothing to do with the debt they themselves ran up.
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Flickr / mikoosij
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Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., on Friday gave voice to the frustration of millions of American liberals who feel betrayed by President Obama’s eagerness to abandon key social welfare programs established and preserved by his Democratic predecessors. (more)
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Cliff (CC-BY)
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Senate Democrats have noticed that the president is dealing directly with House Republicans to reach a debt ceiling deal, one that may include trillions in cuts to Social Security and Medicare without any tax increases, and they’re not happy.
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AP / Susan Walsh
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By Bill Boyarsky — Rather than trying to conciliate the Republicans, Obama ought to speak out against them. The truth is that Boehner, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell don’t want to work with him.
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AP / Pablo Martinez Monsivais
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By Robert Scheer — These threatened programs are not government handouts to a privileged class, like defense contractors and bailed-out bankers, who do feel eminently entitled to pig out at the federal trough.
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Michele Bachmann’s husband tries to “cure” gay people; President Obama wants to make cuts to Social Security and Medicare; meanwhile, the archivist of the U.S. defends Wikipedia from professors. These discoveries and more after the jump.
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David Fitzsimmons, Cagle Cartoons, The Arizona Star —
Posted on Jul 12, 2011
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Flickr / SpeakerBoehner
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On Saturday evening, Speaker of the House John Boehner accepted less than he previously asked for in a deficit reduction plan. He slashed the GOP demand for total cuts from $4 trillion to, roughly, the $2 trillion suggested by the White House, and he tentatively agreed to some form of tax increase. (more)
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Flickr / Randy Bayne
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In a news release from the office of Bernie Sanders, the Vermont senator criticizes suggestions made by officials that Social Security is eligible for the cutting block in deficit negotiations between President Obama and congressional Republicans. (more)
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Flickr / pedrosimoes7
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Spokespersons for the AARP are in damage control mode after The Wall Street Journal reported last week that the organization, which claims to lobby on behalf of older Americans, “is dropping its longstanding opposition to cutting Social Security benefits.” (more)
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Flickr / clementine gallot (CC-BY)
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Anyone who’s reading this while in the midst of looking for work may not be surprised to hear that Americans who quit their search for employment spent five long months hunting before throwing in the towel.
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Robert Greenwald of Brave New Films wonders why the Koch brothers, with $42 billion and seven homes, are attacking the most vulnerable Americans.
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By Richard Reeves — It hurts your head to open a newspaper like The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal or flip through your favorite websites. Television, I admit, is giving us a bit of a break because all those folks care about is the royal wedding.
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By Joe Conason — What the meteoric career of Paul Ryan demonstrates is how easily impressed we are whenever a politician purports to restore solvency by punishing the poor and the elderly (while coddling the rich).
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By Ruth Marcus — Procrastination is rarely a cost-free strategy. That is true when it comes to fixing Social Security—as much as the Obama administration and, even more forcefully, its allies on the left may wish to believe otherwise.
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mississippicourthouses.com
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By Steve Fraser — Three moments—1911, 1964, now—coming together compelled me to think about when and why people resist power, why they acquiesce, and why, sometimes, they may believe they are resisting when they are in truth acquiescing.
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White House / Pete Souza
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Based on what The New York Times describes as President Obama’s “substantial concessions to Republicans,” Democrats in Congress have reason to fret. Not only did Obama agree to extend the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, but he caved in to Republican demands to neuter the estate tax. ... (more)
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Bill Schorr, Cagle Cartoons —
Posted on Dec 6, 2010
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By E.J. Dionne, Jr. — The proposal put forth by the deficit commission’s chairmen is a deeply conservative document, but if Republicans are as concerned as they say, they should debate the plan—and deficit-increasing tax cuts—in Congress.
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Wikimedia Commons
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On Wednesday, a special task force assembled by the Obama administration to deal with the ever-burgeoning U.S. deficit, aka the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, made some controversial recommendations ... (continued)
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Flickr / Rosie O'Beirne
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In a “how in the world can this happen” moment, federal employees have been put on alert after it was discovered that a worker at the General Services Administration sent the names and Social Security numbers of the agency’s entire staff to a private e-mail address, exposing 12,000 people to the threat of identity theft.
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Flickr / Alan Bruce (CC-BY)
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Of the 52 million people who received $250 stimulus checks last year, 72,000 were dead. While the loss of much of that $18 million is unfortunate, and we are sure to hear all about it in various campaigns, the waste adds up to a tiny sliver of a fraction of the nearly $800 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
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megwhitman.com
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According to the very busy and seemingly ubiquitous attorney Gloria Allred, California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman has run afoul of her own public stance on the immigration issue by virtue of having allegedly hired an undocumented worker to help in her home for nearly a decade.
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Today on the list: How human beings could have made the universe, the movement to move Tony Blair’s memoirs to the crime section, the Social Security con and the Bollywood movie ... about Jesus.
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