The Sequester Saga - Why We Need "Entitlement Reform" Reform

  

Photo by MoneyBlogNewz

To hear government and business leaders talk, you'd think it was self-evident that our two biggest problems in the U.S. are the federal debt and deficit, caused by Out-of-Control-Spending, due (at least partly) to Out-of-Control-Entitlements-That-Must-Be-Reined-In-NOW. 

Example: Shortly before his re-election, President Obama declared, "There's no doubt that our first order of business is going to be to get our deficits and debt under control." 

Example: In January, U.S. Representative Eric Cantor (R-VA) offered this observation:  "I think there's a growing urgency among the people in the country to say, You know what, it is high time for the federal government to get control of the unfunded liabilities in the entitlement programs."
  
The debt, deficit, and so-called "entitlements" are seemingly so worrisome that some of our most influential Job Creators have formed the CEO Fiscal Leadership Council (of Pete Peterson's "Fix the Debt" Campaign); their plan to share fiscal their "thought leadership" and "strategic guidance"with the American people. Accordingly, last November, Honeywell CEO and "Fix the Debt" Steering Committee member David Cote went on "Meet the Press" to warn the nation that "entitlements" are the "ticking time bomb that's going to kill us."             

And despite its preference for the term "reform" over "cuts," the Obama Administration has repeatedly signaled its support for Social Security cuts (e.g. Obama's campaign debate statement that he and Romney held similar positions on Social Security, his campaign's cryptic press release offering the unsettling assurance that he would not privatize and not "slash" Social Security benefits; and his support for the Chained CPI, or Consumer Price Index).   
So...we all agree that these things pretty much go without saying:

- Our spending is Out of Control.
- We have a Looming Debt Crisis.
- The obvious conclusion here is that Social Security recipients        must make do with less in monthly benefits (average per retired worker is $1,237). (Cut back on the cans of Dinty Moore Beef Stew, Grandma, or we'll have to end school meal programs for poor kids! Start reusing those corn pads, or we'll have to shut down crisis hotlines!)

And many of us can agree to these:
- While most Medicaid recipients are good, hard-working Americans, some of these people get sick, and sick people can be so expensive.
- The best approach to deficit reduction is the one that is bipartisan and immediate. Right?

No. 
I, for one, don't agree. And I don't think I'm alone.

Re the deficit: Recently, I surveyed my friends about their most urgent concerns and the Debt Situation. My survey suggests that for many people, there are more urgent concerns than the nation's debt, including the prospect of "clipping my pet's toenails" and the prospect of "finding a spider at home." Perhaps this is because: 1) they know that Social Security and Medicare don't contribute one penny to either the deficit or the debt, and 2) they think that if we can afford multiple wars, tax breaks for the rich, and corporate tax loopholes, then surely we can afford health care for poor people.

Re the "balanced approach" to deficit reduction, or who gives up what as we pay down the debt: For over 30 years, most Americans have been: not getting everything they want, making sacrifices, having some skin in the game, taking a haircut, stepping up, swallowing their medicine, eating their peas, tightening their belts, and feeling the pain. We have put up with budget cuts, stagnant wages, tax law changes that redistribute our nation's wealth upward, deregulation, union-busting laws and practices, free trade, outsourcing, and more.  

The result? In the U.S., according to Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VA),  " "the top 1 percent owns 42 percent of the financial wealth of the nation, while...the bottom 60 percent own only 2.3 percent....The Walton family...owns more wealth than the bottom 40 percent of Americans."  

So to the CEOs urging us to support a balanced approach to deficit reduction: the next 30-plus years of not getting everything you want are all yours.

Those of us who care about anti-poverty programs cannot afford to be distracted by decoy debt and deficit "emergencies." It's time for us to take charge of the debate about our national priorities. To do this, we need "entitlement reform" reform.

First, let's not use "entitlement reform" to refer to cutting retirement and health care benefits for people who have earned them, or to cutting health care for people too poor afford it. "Entitlement reform" sounds like some sort of corrective action applied to greedy people who cannot be left unsupervised or they'll bankrupt the country. Let's use it to refer to calling out bailout-needing, bonus-favoring, tax-evading,  loophole-loving, public teat-sucking CEOs (and their toadies) who tell taxpayers to be more responsible.

Second, let's publicly call out each individual government and business leader whose recent thought leadership on the debt/deficit undermines or threatens Social Security, Medicare, and/or Medicaid. Let's publicly suggest-- in letters to the editor, on signs at a protest outside of her/his office, on an online petition, at a town hall meeting, or on a radio call-in show - how s/he can help the rest of us get us back on track.

Examples of whom to call out and how:

-  Pete Petersen, the Wall Street Billionaire behind the "Fix the Debt" Campaign, a PR effort that could more accurately be called "Nix the (Safety) Net." 

If there is so much grassroots support for focusing on deficit reduction ASAP, why has Peterson reportedly put together a campaign with: 127 CEOs, four PR firms, 80 staff,multiple Peterson-funded "partner" groups, and 23 dubious state chapters? This would be a good question to ask at one of the Campaign's upcoming grassroots events, or in the absence of same, in your local paper.

-  Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, who co-chaired the 2010 National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, and who recommended slashing Social Security: These two men charge $40,000 - each - to talk to business and other groups about their draconian deficit reduction ideas. If she were still alive, my Great Aunt Florence would ask me to drive her to whatever meeting was Bowles' and Simpson's next gig. There, she would commandeer the microphone. And she'd ask them to donate their $80,000 in speaking fee money to her fund for old ladies who can't afford food because of callous, clueless, cold-hearted men like them.

- Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs: This is the guy whose 2011 compensation package was worth over $16 million. The guy who said "You're going to have to do something, undoubtedly, to lower people's expectations of what they're going to get".the entitlements, and what people think they're going to get, because you're not going to get it."

What if several hundred inquisitive seniors gathered outside of a Goldman Sachs shareholder meeting, under a banner saying: "Lloyd, you say people must lower their expectations"just how much lower should they go? Explain!" They could carry signs saying things like, "Give up on pensions? Check!" and "Give up retirement? Done!" and "Shareholders: Please! If you don't finish lunch, get the leftovers to go, and leave them with us!"

- U.S. Representative Louie Gohmert (R-TX): Just this week, he opined on " the immorality of wild, lavish spending on our generation and forcing future generations to do without essentials just so we can live lavishly now," and adding that the debt is "one of the most immoral things this country has ever done."

Let's say you live in Texas and volunteer with your local progressive advocacy organization. Your group hold its first annual Drama Queen Awards for elected and other community leaders given to exaggeration. (Award categories, in addition to Queen, could include Drama Despot -- for leaders who support over-the-top laws mandating things like transvaginal probes; Drama Duke - for most dramatic political newcomer; Court Jester, etc.) Imagine Representative Gohmert, Drama Queen 2013, wearing his royal robe and crown.

There are many politicians, pundits, and others to be called out, and all kinds of opportunities to do it. Join the fight to reform "entitlement reform." Let's get this done! This country can afford to meet the basic human needs of all of its people. Yes, we can! 

Fundraising For Fornicators, Feminists, Hags, and Sluts (and Their Allies)

Happy Women’s History Month!  But this is no time for revelry:

• Last week, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney proclaimed, “Planned Parenthood. We’re going to get rid of that,” when outlining his plans to get federal spending under control.
• The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), up for renewal this year, faces stiff Republican opposition, prompting Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA) to say, “This is one more step in the removal of rights for women.” 
• More than 1,100 anti-abortion provisions were introduced into state legislatures last year, 135 of which were enacted.
• Also in 2011, seven states defunded or took steps to defund Planned Parenthood, which provides basic health care, breast cancer and STD screenings - in addition to contraception - to millions of low-income women - each year.

Women who fight back encounter recriminations seemingly intended to shame them into silence. Popular messages include:

1. As long as they are acting on deeply held religious and moral beliefs, people should have the right to limit your health care choices: Where is your respect for faith-based intolerance?
2.  It’s unseemly to use the fight over birth control as an excuse to raise money for reproductive rights work.
3. “Those” women are slutty (or worse, ugly; or worst of all, old).

If all of this made you want to throw up, read on. There are ways to address this. A purely hypothetical example: You issue an online call for women all over the U.S. to round up friends, neighbors, etc. to raise money for Planned Parenthood, et al. You create a web site whose home page contains something like this:

“ Join the Mutual Association of Defiant Biddies, Ice Queens, Tarts, Cows, and Hags, Easy Women, & Sluts (MAD BITCHES)… a fundraising association to benefit organizations for women activists who will not be shamed into silence or inaction

  

Not able to fundraise? Become an honorary member! Donate Now! [Clicking on “Donate Now!” takes you to the site’s donation page.]

Our goal is to raise $100,000, and to distribute the money among organizations that promote reproductive freedom and/or work to eliminate violence against women. If folks form 100 MAD BITCHES chapters, and if each chapter can raise $1000, that’s $100,000 to train activists in 25 cities to run woman-friendly political campaigns, or to fund over 2000 hours of counseling services for battered women.

Click here for examples of fast and easy ways for each chapter to raise $1000.”

Clicking takes you to the site’s page of fundraising examples, such as:

“National Tart Appreciation Day: On the designated day, BITCHES across the U.S. sell single-serving tarts - on Capitol Hill, at state capitols, and at other strategic sites. Above each cart is a big ‘Tart Sale!’ banner on which is drawn a cartoon of a man who resembles Rush Limbaugh saying, ‘Only tarts support access to birth control!’ Women of all ages, and from all walks of life sell tarts, wearing typical tart costume fare: fish nets, high heels, bright red lip stick, big hair, boas, over-the-top dresses of fabric resembling leopard skin or leather, and to-the-elbow gloves (red or black). On Capitol Hill and at state capitols, members of Congress and state legislatures take turns tarting up and helping with sales at the nearest tart cart. Chapter members go to legislators’ offices and sell their goods door-to-door.

Because MAD BITCHES pull off simultaneous tart sales across the country and involve tarted-up  lawmakers in selling tarts, they attract media coverage, which helps to both drive business to the tart carts and generate post-event donations.

Bottom Line: If 10 volunteers per chapter each agree to contribute 3 dozen tarts, and all the tarts are sold at $3 each, the bake sale yields $1080, not including post-sale donations.


Re-Purposed & Re-Used Raffle – To round up raffle prizes quickly and easily, BITCHES collect unwanted and unopened birthday, wedding, graduation, holiday, and other gifts that are taking up space in their closets. They ask friends, neighbors, etc. to do the same, reminding them of the satisfaction they’ll feel in knowing that the never-worn sweater vest from their anti-choice relatives is helping to subsidize pro-choice organizations. And they mention that no gift is too insignificant to donate. (For instance, you round up the Hickory Farm sausages, the Starbucks coffee mugs, and the gourmet honeys; then you wrap it all up with a big piece of cellophane, top with a bow, stick it in a basket, and voila – a “Breakfast in a Basket.” If your collection of donated gifts happens to include a sweater vest, throw that in the basket too, and one lucky winner can pretend to be Rick Santorum breakfasting at a campaign stop.)

Bottom Line: If average ticket cost is $2.50, each volunteer sells 50 tickets, and there are 10 volunteers in your chapter, you  raise $1250.

Misogyny Meter: BITCHES ask people to pledge a dollar for each time - say, within the first week of April – that a presidential candidate expresses opposition to federally funding reproductive health care or VAWA.  Each chapter appoints a Website Bitch to create a web page where people can go to pledge money, find out which candidates have said what, how much money they owe to-date, and how much the chapter has raised so far.

Bottom Line: Reserve this fundraiser for when a vote on VAWA is imminent, Rick Santorum delivers a speech, or for the occurrence of some other event likely to provoke over-the-top candidate commentary on women’s rights.

To sum up: No need to throw up. No time for revelry. Celebrate Women’s History Month next year. Let’s make some money. Then let’s make some history.