Wednesday, September 19, 2012

The Romney-verse

So turns out Mitt Romney's a total asshole.  I think we all knew that, but he really showed his true colors yesterday with that "secret video" that had him condemning almost half of the U.S. population. 

In the video, taken at a fundraiser, Romney says:

"There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that’s an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what…These are people who pay no income tax."

Many things offended me in this statement, but I'll stick to ranting about the top two.

#1. The idea that people want to be totally dependent on the government. Do you know many people who want to be on welfare?  I don't.  Everyone I know who's ever had to take government assistance did so out of sheer necessity.  They were going through a temporary hard time that they were trying to get out of.  The amount of shame tied to taking government assistance is enough to assume that most people on welfare don't want to be in that situation.  Are there exceptions? Sure.  There are exceptions to everything, but that doesn't mean you scrap the whole system for those who truly need it.

#2. The idea that you would only want a social safety net if you yourself were dependant on it.  Am I on welfare?  No.  But for some reason, I still think it should exist.  That reason is called basic human empathy.  I grew up with very little and understand what it's like to scrimp and save.  So therefore, even though I don't need it right now, I want government assistance to be there for those  who do need it, and I'm happy to pay more in taxes to make sure that happens.

So it seems to me that Mitt and the crew really have no understanding of basic human empathy, even though they are the ones  who always claim to be doing whatever Jesus would do.  And although Jesus never spoke about abortion or gay marriage, I'm pretty sure he had something to say about loving your neighbor, caring for your brother, giving away your money and not spreading falsehoods.  But what do I know?  I'm not a Christian.

Monday, September 17, 2012

Evil Advertising

Last night I was enjoying an old episode of "South Park" with my husband when a commercial came on attacking Rick Nolan, our Democratic candidate for Congress.  The ad said that Nolan is "extreme" and that he wants to get rid of Medicare.

Now I've met Rick Nolan several times.  In fact, I once sat next to him at an awards dinner and had a lovely conversation with him.  He's anything but extreme.  He's actually a genuinely nice guy who wants to make a real difference.

And I know for a fact that he doesn't want to get rid of Medicare.  In fact, it's the Republican party, and their candidate Chip Cravaack, who would like to dismantle social programs like Medicare, because they don't really think it's the government's job to help people. 

So I was more than a little perplexed by this commercial.  I finally figured it out when they got to the part about Nolan wanting a "European-style health program."  As we all know, anything European is bad, so this sinister guy is trying to get rid of your Medicare and replace it with something European?!  What a jerk!

Well, actually, that "European-style health program" is really called "single-payer healthcare" and it's something that many people, like myself, have been advocating for for a long time.  It's essentially Medicare, but for everyone, not just seniors.  Because seniors, in my opinion, are not the only people deserving of healthcare, and a single-payer healthcare system is really the only humane way to tackle our healthcare problems, as most of the rest of the civilized world has already figured out.

So this ad, put out by the "American Action Network" is deliberately lying about Nolan's stance.  Does he want to get rid of Medicare? No. If you take a quick trip to his website, http://nolanforcongress.org/, you'll find this quote, "Don’t turn Medicare into a voucher system for insurance companies, which will mean higher costs and less treatment." Does that sound like someone who wants to end Medicare?  He may have backed off on singe-payer, which upsets me, but he's definitely not about to get rid of Medicare.

Is this ad not only lying about Nolan's stance, but also essentially taking Chip Cravaack's desire to end Medicare and pinning it on Nolan?  Well, if you take a trip to Cravaack's website, you'll find. . . well . . . . nothing.  No info on his stance on any issue.  So I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt and just assume that he falls into line with the Republican party and wants to end Medicare as we know it.

I know that all political ads tend to be a little misleading, so this whole thing doesn't really shock me, but the egregious LYING going on in this ad is really off the charts.  The American Action Network should be extremely ashamed of themselves.  Although sadly, I know that they aren't.

Friday, September 14, 2012

Education vs. Healthcare

As I was listening to news about the Chicago teachers' strike today, a seemingly obvious thought occurred to me.  Why do we accept, as a society, the idea that all people deserve at least a basic education, and support that idea with our tax dollars, but we refuse to accept the idea that all people deserve at least basic healthcare, and then support that with our tax dollars?

It's a no-brainer that public education in itself is a good idea, no matter how you feel about the current state of our schools.  At least we agree that we should have schools that are available to everyone at no cost, because we recognize that education is a right in America.  So why not make the leap to healthcare?

I would argue, fairly easily, that healthcare is more important than education.  I mean, you can't go to school when you're sick, right?

And we already extend this idea to the elderly.  We provide them with Medicare because we believe they have a right to have their health tended to.  So why not the rest of us?  Why are the elderly more important as human beings than everyone else?

It justs boggles my mind that we can appreciate how important education is, but not how important going to the doctor when you're sick is.  What is wrong with us?

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Why I'm Progressive

Bill O'Reilly calls people of my persuasion "Secular Progressives" or "SP's" for short.  He means it in a bad way; as a slur to fling toward liberals.  But I take absolutely no offense at this label.  I think it's an accurate descriptor for my views.  Yes, I am secular, and yes, I am progressive.

I am progressive because I am on the side of progress.  Is that a bad thing?  I thought we wanted progress.  Look at it this way, throughout history, the following positions were progressive positions:

  • Slavery is bad.
  • Women should be able to vote.
  • Children should not be forced to work.
  • People should not have to be Catholic.
  • Everyone should be allowed to read.
  • Workers should receive a fair wage.
  • Poor people shouldn't starve to death.
  • All children should get an education.
  • People should get to have a say in their government.
  • Little girls should get to play soccer too.
  • Husbands shouldn't have the right to beat up their wives.
  • People should be allowed to marry outside their religion.
  • Having a weekend off every now and again might be nice.

Throughout history, people like me have always pushed unpopular ideas in order to make progress in our ever evolving understanding of the universe.  Every piece of social "progress" that has ever been made was made by "progressives."

It's not that we progressives are a bunch of rabble-rousers who are trying to tear down "traditional values" or anything.  It's just that we've learned from history that things can keep getting better for people if we keep pushing them a little further outside of their comfort zones, and into a world where we're all accepted and given a chance in life, no matter how we started out or who we are.

We are, in essence, people who care about the welfare of humanity, and want the best for everyone.  And instead of hoping and praying that things will change and get better, we get out there and actually do something about it.  We are looking down the road, to a future that is even more free for our children to live a good life.

If you think that progressives are making too much noise about gay rights and trying to "shove a lifestyle" down your throats, consider this: 100 years ago women were going to jail for trying shove the idea of women voting down everyone's throats.  Women participating in politics was supposed to break up the family and lead to women thoughtlessly leaving their children and husbands.  The only problem was, it didn't.  Women fought against staggering odds to get the right to vote, and eventually they got it.  In their day, they were the progressives. 

So remember, 100 years from now, the things that progressives are fighting for today will seem commonplace, and your grandchildren will wonder why you were against it at all.