Articles like the following really give you pause...
Exeter, New Hampshire (CNN)Ohio Gov. John Kasich said Friday that a New Hampshire audience member would "get over" cuts to Social Security payments as a result of his reform plan -- and the left is already pouncing on the comment.
The Republican presidential candidate was asked about entitlement reform during NH1's "Fiscal Fridays" series in Concord, New Hampshire, on Friday, and he said it was something that would have to get done.
"We can't balance a budget without entitlement reform. What are we, kidding?" Kasich said when asked about his opponents who say they won't touch entitlements. But Social Security is based on what people pay in, it is not an entitlement in the sense of an unearned payment of some kind.
Kasich said he was part of the effort to reform Medicare and Medicaid in the '90s, and that he also had a plan to change Social Security so that initial benefits were lowered for individuals not yet near eligibility.
Gov. Kasich tells Democrats to 'lighten up' 01:12
He asked audience members to raise their hands if they were far from receiving Social Security, asked them if they knew yet what their initial benefit would be and then asked them if they would be bothered if it were a little lower for the good of the country.
One person said it would be a problem.
"Well, you'd get over it, and you're going to have to get over it," Kasich joked.
Within an hour, the liberal PAC American Bridge was already out with a video of the encounter, and the New Hampshire Democratic Party quickly circulated the video, saying Kasich "threatened our Granite State seniors."
Kasich did not go into full detail on what his plan would be, saying he would roll it out soon after some number crunching. But he noted that in the past, his cuts would have started with baby boomers.
He initially said young people would see "a lot" lower benefit, before correcting himself to say perhaps not "a lot," but some amount.
It is rather infuriating to hear the word “entitlement” thrown around in such a disdainful way by people who want to put down the Zadroga Act or Social Security..
At Christmas time, when we think of the people who need what for some reason have this strange word “entitlement” to describe them ( sort of a word that can be used as a double edged sword), think it’s worth to think about Social Security and what it has meant to so many people.
I need my Social Security money to get by, and I wish of course I didn’t, but that’s the way my Life has turned out. I can complain about lots of things, but considering the state of most of the people in the World today, I am so much better off than the vast majority of them ( and so lucky to be born an American!)–
Yes, during the Depression Social Security was brought in and it was called Communist by some buffoons ( I mean, the idea had been introduced by the Kaiser in Imperial Germany in the 19th Century, and I don’t think his motives were Communistic)
The photographer Dorotha Lange took pictures of people affected by the Great Depression. Shown here is a famous one of a couple in Oregon where the man has his Social Security number tatooed on his arm…
Poverty repels us more and more these days. Donald Trump, "Greed is Good", and a kind of general Golden Calf abhorrence of “Losers” prevails in a lot of people’s hearts.
I would ask them to remember, especally at this time of year, the word’s of the Scots Poet Robert Burns, who wrote about our Human Condiiton and generally being all cut from the same cloth
A Man’s A Man For A’ That
1795
Type: Song
Tune: For a’ that.
Is there for honest Poverty
That hings his head, an’ a’ that;
The coward slave-we pass him by,
We dare be poor for a’ that!
For a’ that, an’ a’ that.
Our toils obscure an’ a’ that,
The rank is but the guinea’s stamp,
The Man’s the gowd for a’ that.
That hings his head, an’ a’ that;
The coward slave-we pass him by,
We dare be poor for a’ that!
For a’ that, an’ a’ that.
Our toils obscure an’ a’ that,
The rank is but the guinea’s stamp,
The Man’s the gowd for a’ that.
What though on hamely fare we dine,
Wear hoddin grey, an’ a that;
Gie fools their silks, and knaves their wine;
A Man’s a Man for a’ that:
For a’ that, and a’ that,
Their tinsel show, an’ a’ that;
The honest man, tho’ e’er sae poor,
Is king o’ men for a’ that.
Wear hoddin grey, an’ a that;
Gie fools their silks, and knaves their wine;
A Man’s a Man for a’ that:
For a’ that, and a’ that,
Their tinsel show, an’ a’ that;
The honest man, tho’ e’er sae poor,
Is king o’ men for a’ that.
Ye see yon birkie, ca’d a lord,
Wha struts, an’ stares, an’ a’ that;
Tho’ hundreds worship at his word,
He’s but a coof for a’ that:
For a’ that, an’ a’ that,
His ribband, star, an’ a’ that:
The man o’ independent mind
He looks an’ laughs at a’ that.
Wha struts, an’ stares, an’ a’ that;
Tho’ hundreds worship at his word,
He’s but a coof for a’ that:
For a’ that, an’ a’ that,
His ribband, star, an’ a’ that:
The man o’ independent mind
He looks an’ laughs at a’ that.
A prince can mak a belted knight,
A marquis, duke, an’ a’ that;
But an honest man’s abon his might,
Gude faith, he maunna fa’ that!
For a’ that, an’ a’ that,
Their dignities an’ a’ that;
The pith o’ sense, an’ pride o’ worth,
Are higher rank than a’ that.
A marquis, duke, an’ a’ that;
But an honest man’s abon his might,
Gude faith, he maunna fa’ that!
For a’ that, an’ a’ that,
Their dignities an’ a’ that;
The pith o’ sense, an’ pride o’ worth,
Are higher rank than a’ that.
Then let us pray that come it may,
(As come it will for a’ that,)
That Sense and Worth, o’er a’ the earth,
Shall bear the gree, an’ a’ that.
For a’ that, an’ a’ that,
It’s coming yet for a’ that,
That Man to Man, the world o’er,
Shall brothers be for a’ that.
(As come it will for a’ that,)
That Sense and Worth, o’er a’ the earth,
Shall bear the gree, an’ a’ that.
For a’ that, an’ a’ that,
It’s coming yet for a’ that,
That Man to Man, the world o’er,
Shall brothers be for a’ that.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please leave a comment-- or suggestions, particularly of topics and places you'd like to see covered