An Open Letter to Bernie, Hillary, the AARP ...

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Friday October 30, 2015 · 1:14 PM PDT

2015/10/30 · 13:14

Dear Senator Sanders and Secretary Clinton:

PBS's Making Sense column published a report on some drastic changes to Social Security spousal benefits slipped into the budget bill by Republicans -- presumably as a sweetener to induce them not to hold our whole country hostage via another Debt Ceiling debate. This doesn't seem to be getting any attention from major media, although perhaps I missed it. It seems like a big enough deal to me that I want to hear what you plan to do about it.

http://www.pbs.org/...

Am I wrong about this? I'm posting my open letter to the AARP too, in hopes that some of their retirement experts can weigh in.

Inequality

Samantine

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Monday November 17, 2014 · 7:41 AM PST

2014/11/17 · 07:41

Income inequality in the U.S. is the worst it's been since the 1920s. This morning's NYT had an Op-Ed column by Stephen Rattner with facts and figures for comparison with other countries:
http://www.nytimes.com/....

The story isn't just income, but the impact of government policies and tax structure: these, incredibly, made the whole situation worse. Low taxes (especially for the well-to-do), poor services for everybody else. We have, in short, a systemic redistribution system, taking monies FROM the bottom 90% and redistributing it TO the top 10%. Read it and weep, and spread the word: THIS is why electing Republicans is a bad idea.
But I'm also reminded -- by George Lakoff's 2nd edition of DON'T THINK OF AN ELEPHANT -- that the facts alone won't necessarily persuade (although RWNJs' denial of the facts is itself a monumental issue). We need to take back the discourse and move it away from the "job creators" myth of trickle-down to wide recognition of "wage theft" and "plundering the public treasury." That's what this is really all about, and has been so for a couple of decades. It's what all the obfuscation and invented scandals keep from every getting discussed.

My first diary: forgive me if I've botched something ...

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