What do we want from Social Security?

Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. (Exodus 20:12)

When we were all farmers we would satisfy this obligation by having our elderly live with us. We are not farmers any more (most of us) so we stopped doing that. One effect of this change was that, by the 1960s and '70s, to be old was to be poor. That was very bad. So we changed the Social Security benefits calculations and pulled the majority of the old out of poverty. We returned to honoring our parents.

Social Security is our new way to honor our parents. It provides insurance that they will not slip into poverty.

We know that Social Security faces some problems. For example: there are fewer people paying in per retiree drawing benefits and retirees live much longer than when the program started. We also know there is no immediate crisis. We can take a bit of time to think clearly about the problems and possible solutions. While we do this, we must bear in mind what we want Social Security to do for us: protect our parents.

Healthcare is a drag on the Economy

Here is a link to a report on Yahoo from the LA Times:
Healthcare Costs Take Big Bite From Economy

Increased spending for healthcare is gobbling up about one-quarter of the growth in the economy,...

Something like a year ago I heard a report on NPR (sorry, no citation) about an Auto factory in Canada which was taking work from the nearby factory in the US. Why? The manager interviewed said the Canadian Health system gave them a competitive advantage.

Now, isn't it time to stop screwing around and get the same competitive advantage for the US?

Liberal vs Neocon

This quote is from Letters to Salon in response to Ann Marlowe's review of 'The Neocon Reader':

Human rights rhetoric does not make one a champion of human rights or democracy. Napoleon Bonaparte, like the neocons, talked of liberty and equality while acting to make himself emperor and destroying democracy and security with his secret police and continual wars. Liberals don't hate neocons because they have "stolen" the liberal agenda; liberals hate neocons because they perceive them as liars, hypocrites and would-be tyrants who are bent on destroying American democracy, impoverishing the American middle class, and establishing a one-party state.

-- Eleanor Egan

Take a look at Mark Morford's Notes & Errata column

Great writing. Even better if you are a Progressive as you might agree with him :-)

Mark writes for the San Francisco chronicle at: sfgate.com
You have to look him up on the columnists page to find the most current article.

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