#Medicare

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The Federal Government Didn’t Lose the War on Poverty — It Retreated

Jay Murdock

Aug 27, 2013
3 min

The Federal Government Didn’t Lose the War on Poverty — It Retreated

Anthony W. Orlando: Lecturer in the College of Business and Economics at California State University, Los Angeles – Posted: 08/25/2013 6:26 pm In 1904, half the population of New York City lived below the poverty line. Half. Can you imagine? The poor were so numerous that they nearly outnumbered everyone else. Today, less than 20 percent of New Yorkers live in poverty. That’s still a serious problem, but it’s a far cry from 50 percent. Clearly, we did something right. But in

How We All Got Stuck Paying the Medical Bills of the Woman Who Sued to Kill Obamacare

Jay Murdock

Mar 13, 2012
4 min

How We All Got Stuck Paying the Medical Bills of the Woman Who Sued to Kill Obamacare

Wendell Potter: Analyst at MSNBC and the Center for Public Integrity Posted: 03/12/2012 7:26 am If I were trying to persuade the Supreme Court later this month that Obamacare should not be declared unconstitutional, I would tell the story of the woman who was the original named plaintiff in the lawsuit filed by the National Federation of Independent Business, one of the fiercest critics of the health care reform law. The NFIB thought it had found the perfect person when one

Jay Murdock

Sep 20, 2011
4 min

You Bet It’s Class Warfare

Andy Ostroy Political & pop culture analyst Posted: 9/19/11 11:00 AM ET Its called the “Millionaire’s Tax”, and it’s pure genius. Finally, President Obama and Democrats have caught on to the power and importance of branding. My God, it’s almost Rovian in its sheer simplicity and potential impact. The tax is a brilliant scheme by the president to achieve his goal of taxing the rich and creating more equity in the lopsided tax code, and in the process funding his American Job

Jay Murdock

Sep 15, 2011
4 min

Tea Party America

Paul Stoller, Professor of Anthropology, West Chester University; Author, ‘The Power of the Between’ :Posted: 9/14/11 02:22 PM ET By now there has been much discussion about the crowd reaction at the two most recent Republican presidential candidate debates. In the GOP debate at the Reagan Presidential Library, the crowd enthusiastically applauded the fact that Rick Perry has overseen 234 executions during his tenure as governor of Texas. To the crowd’s delight, Governor P

Growing Economic Inequality the Root Cause of Economic Stagnation

Jay Murdock

Jul 12, 2011
8 min

Growing Economic Inequality the Root Cause of Economic Stagnation

Robert Creamer – Political organizer, strategist and author Posted: 7/11/11 09:03 AM ET Last Friday’s jobs numbers showed a net growth of only 18,000 new jobs nationwide — while the economy must produce 150,000 jobs each month just to absorb population growth. Clearly the economic recovery has stalled and Republicans are pointing to the slowdown as evidence that American economic policy must once again turn sharply to the right. Trouble is, rather than being a solution to our

Medicare Doesn’t Need to Be Sacrificed to Solve our Budget Woes

Jay Murdock

Jul 1, 2011
3 min

Medicare Doesn’t Need to Be Sacrificed to Solve our Budget Woes

Carolyn Maloney – U.S. Representative for New York’s 14th District Posted: 06/30/11 04:39 PM ET Forty-five years ago today, when the Medicare program was launched, only 51% of Americans 65 and older had health coverage and nearly 30% of seniors lived below the poverty line despite the fact that social security had been in existence for thirty years. Today, the situation is vastly improved, thanks to the overwhelming success of Medicare. Virtually all Americans aged 65 and o

From Muslims to Medicare, Republicans Are Selling Fear Again

Jay Murdock

Jun 16, 2011
4 min

From Muslims to Medicare, Republicans Are Selling Fear Again

Richard (RJ) Eskow: Consultant, Writer, Senior Fellow with The Campaign for America’s Future – Posted: 06/15/11 12:50 PM ET Fear never goes out of fashion. Once again Republicans are dealing in fear instead of facts, and why not? It’s worked in the past, and a nation that’s locked in seemingly permanent recession and high unemployment may be in the market for some scapegoats. Monday’s Republican presidential debate was the opening salvo in a tawdry little war on truth that’s

Jay Murdock

May 13, 2011
3 min

The Battle for the Soul of the GOP

The real battle for the soul of the GOP started today with a speech on Wall Street by Speaker of the House John Boehner. Wall Street and big business fear Tea Partiers won’t allow House Republicans to raise the debt ceiling without major spending cuts – and without tax increases on the wealthy. Wall Street and big business know this would be unacceptable to the White House and congressional Democrats. The Street and big business want to tame the budget deficit but they don’t

Jay Murdock

Apr 21, 2011
6 min

That Old ‘Which Side Are You On?’ Thing

Mike Lux – Author, The Progressive Revolution: How the Best in America Came to Be Posted: 04/20/11 05:20 PM ET Republican Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin and the House Republicans, led by Paul Ryan, have done progressives and Democrats a huge favor. We are more unified than we have been since Election Day 2008, and it is a great feeling. Because Republicans want to destroy — just utterly destroy — unions, Medicare, Medicaid, and pretty much the entire safety net, the progressi

America’s Richest Taxpayers See Federal Taxes Dramatically Drop

Jay Murdock

Apr 17, 2011
4 min

America’s Richest Taxpayers See Federal Taxes Dramatically Drop

STEPHEN OHLEMACHER 04/17/11 08:47 AM ET WASHINGTON — As millions of procrastinators scramble to meet Monday’s tax filing deadline, ponder this: The super rich pay a lot less taxes than they did a couple of decades ago, and nearly half of U.S. households pay no income taxes at all. The Internal Revenue Service tracks the tax returns with the 400 highest adjusted gross incomes each year. The average income on those returns in 2007, the latest year for IRS data, was nearly $34