Feb 14, 2023·edited Feb 14, 2023Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
Lots of things going through my mind today:
** How MTG looked and acted like Cruella Deville at the State of the Union.
** How irresponsible to the nation's security GOP members of Congress were when they took the most negative twist they could find to criticize how President Biden handled the spy balloon before they had heard any briefing on the subject.
** How greed of fracking and going after oil too deep under the ground brought about more earthquake activity to Oklahoma than it had ever felt might be a contributing factor to the earthquake disaster in Syria and Turkey - oil.
** How we need to emphasize the second word in Social Security and think about how many people would lose any sense of security if the GOP succeeds in pulling Social Security up by its roots.
** How the mass shooting at Michigan State University this evening with a lone gunman makes me want to do something to get the Congress to do their job -- for the People and their safety.
** How waiting for the Texas Judge to ban the abortion pill makes me and all women second class citizens to be hauled around by the hair by GOP apes.
** How a politician with integrity seems an oxymoron these days and I'd like to go back to my "Re-elect No One!" slogan.
What dawned on me this evening is that we need a People's Agenda that we get the majority of the People to support and only voting for those politicians who would sign on publicly to implement it. A movement not a party. A movement based on all of the People this time protecting the rights of others, protecting the right for others to vote, protecting the environment for all, to be a true democracy not just un-representative. the People's Agenda (tPA) would be akin to the Ten Commandments for Democracy, the Real Deal rather than the New Deal, Safety, Security and Sharing - Valuing generosity to the community over personal profit.
An "AND" society which synergistically grows to support the well-being of all. Where Doing the Right Thing is a motto to live by. Where Valuing Differences is an asset of different perspectives creating real solutions that help everyone. Where social media uses algorithms which already exist helping groups reach consensus and working together rather than hate and division. A movement where one's Party doesn't matter.
tPA is a clot busting drug which saved my life two hours before death (10 year anniversary of my near death will be a week from Saturday). Now we use tPA movement to bust the Congress and refill it with Synergists who take action and have empathy for all People.
Please fill in the sentence -- One of the essential actions of tPA would be ______ . I'm thinking education (the 3 rRs - respect, responsibility and resilience), human rights for all, sustainability of the planet, sustainability of true democracy, security (food, retirement, well-being), safety (gun safety, no assault weapons, no ammunition that tears up human organs), etc......
We, the People, all of us this time being there for each other. We all live our dreams!
"President Biden continues to claim that they are intent on reducing or eliminating Social Security and Medicare. Good for Biden—because he is right! " Biden is right in three ways. He is accurate, as you say. Republicans want to reduce or eliminate social security and medicare. He is effective. The accusation has made Republicans confront their own agenda and then run away from it. He is energizing. The accusation gives Democrats a starting point in demonstrating the difference between the two political parties. Keep it up Joe Biden. And keep it up Robert Hubbell.
Feb 14, 2023·edited Feb 14, 2023Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
Robert, I agree with you that there is ample evidence that the GOP wants to end entitlements, especially the Social Security Ponzi scheme, but what Scalese in his inarticulate way cited is not evidence of it. I suspect Scalese was talking about Social Security Disability Insurance, not retiree benefits. He thinks people are getting checks when they could work. I'm not sure what evidence he would find to support that.
My firm did a 9-year, $125 million pilot program with nearly 1 million SSDI recipients to entice them to return to work. Normally when SSDI beneficiaries reach an income threshold (under $18,000), their SSDI benefits get cut off. To encourage them to work more and rely less on the SSDI trust fund, which has solvency issues, the pilot enabled them to keep getting 50% of the benefits for every dollar they earned above the threshold. Few people who participated in the pilot went back to work. Why? we don't know. Maybe they were too disabled to work. Maybe what was effectively a 50% marginal rate on earnings made working unattractive. Maybe the paperwork to participate in the program was too burdensome or hard to understand. In any event, the financial incentive didn't work, and it's far from clear whether a greater incentive would make a difference. So while it's hardly conclusive evidence that Scalese's assumption that people on SSDI could work is wrong, the behavior of a sample of nearly 1 million people is suggestive that he is. Not a small sample.
BTW, Congress initially wanted all SSDI participants to participate in the program, but fortunately cooler heads prevailed and created a pilot. Full participation would have cost $1 billion. So while there were complaints that our study squandered $125 million on the pilot, in fact, we saved the government the additional $875 million that lawmakers wanted to spend on a program that didn't work.
I agree the Democrats are on the offensive and when I sit back and think about it, they are in on the offensive because they are leading from strength having delivered many successful programs and have effectively demonstrated what good government looks like. I think the Democrats in addition to pushing Republicans on Social Security should adopt a slogan when the bogus Hunter Biden hearings and comments are made. That slogan should be repeated daily “ What about Jared? The Kushner story and the 2 Billion dollar payout is easier for voters to believe and understand than the unsubstantiated Hunter laptop story of a non government employee.
Remember the “ show and tell” programs in school when you were a kid? The Democrats should show Americans all the infrastructure projects (roads, bridges, dams , and utilities) that are currently being implemented in towns and cities all over America and have local representatives on local television showing pictures of these projects. These projects are employing local citizens and Democrats need to focus on what is happening now. A picture is worth a thousand words.
Want to permanently resolve the gqp issues with Social Security? Simple. Remove and end the slackers’ special congressional retirement pension plan and put them into the SSI system. I am disgusted and tired of the high pay and expense to pay for these feckless bastards.
Here is some of what we pay for:
Health Benefits. ...
Dental and Vision Benefits. ...
Flexible Spending Accounts. ...
Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) ...
Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) ...
Flexible Work Arrangements. ...
Commuting Assistance. ...
Annual and Sick Leave
That is just the tip of the iceberg. Add in mail, meals, limos, travel and staff cost….tens of billions of dollars.
Want to reduce government spending? Let them start at home and cut the congressional budget. Maybe then the republicans can find their way to raise the debt ceiling to pay for what they have spent.
May I raise a completely off-topic comment? This concerns Kevin McCarthy and Bibi Netanyahu. The controversy in Israel about the Supreme Court shows, as does the appointment of the Special House Committee on weaponization, that a parliamentary form of government, while theoretically prone to compromise, can operate in exactly the opposite way. When voting is close, it hands a far-out minority to wield enormous power if a would-be leader has no principles of his own. Wing nuts like Gaetz, Greene and Jordan, just like the far right in Israel, would have no support in an election of all voters, yet can call the shots when their votes will give a power-hungry would-be leader a victory.
I fully believe that the GOP's genuine intentions regarding S.S. were let out of the bag by Senator Rick Scott. I wonder if Scalise's remarks are in regard to the Disability programs which were shoved into S.S., and have nothing to do with a "retirement" program per se. I think there would be a case funding-wise for separating the disability programs from S.S. Retirement contributions would best be dedicated strictly for retirement purposes.
I would not however trust the wrecking crew of the GOP to be involved in any overhaul, anymore than I would want them involved in a Constitutional Convention.
Far be it from me to defend Steve Scalise but I don’t think he is quite making the argument you think he is. The argument you think he’s making is self-evidently absurd even to MAGA-heads, so why would he think it will gain traction with them?
Because that’s not what he means. I think his argument is that we can “strengthen Social Security” by cutting social service spending on all “the undeserving poor” by forcing THEM to work more for their paltry checks, saving “the gummint” money which will be available to fund Social Security.
Of course, that’s not how it works either. That’s just another mean-spirited way of appealing to MAGA-loving seniors by attacking the poor. Any money saved by such cuts could be spent anywhere the “gummint” decides: defense, cops, tax reductions for the wealthy, fraud and waste. There is no mechanism to fund Social Security and Medicare from government revenues except FICA taxes on employees and employers.
A friend sent an article from Mercola about the Cochrane Report. I decided I needed to educate myself. Here is what they actually said, "The high risk of bias in the trials, variation in outcome measurement, and relatively low adherence with the interventions during the studies hampers drawing firm conclusions.... There is uncertainty about the effects of face masks. The low to moderate certainty of evidence means our confidence in the effect estimate is limited" https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD006207.pub6/full
When are journalists going to go back to class? I remember being taught in school that there was an expected format for articles. The first paragraph was supposed to be something of an abstract for the rest of the article, with the body of the article expanding on the theme and presenting evidence or facts. It would end with some sort of summary or conclusion. Many people don't read past the first paragraph if they make it past the headline (which is why misleading headlines are such a bad thing).
Presenting the conclusions of a poorly done metadata study in the introduction of an article without a clear denunciation of the methodology is an example of a poorly constructed article at the least. It's actively spreading misinformation as well.
Lots of things going through my mind today:
** How MTG looked and acted like Cruella Deville at the State of the Union.
** How irresponsible to the nation's security GOP members of Congress were when they took the most negative twist they could find to criticize how President Biden handled the spy balloon before they had heard any briefing on the subject.
** How greed of fracking and going after oil too deep under the ground brought about more earthquake activity to Oklahoma than it had ever felt might be a contributing factor to the earthquake disaster in Syria and Turkey - oil.
** How we need to emphasize the second word in Social Security and think about how many people would lose any sense of security if the GOP succeeds in pulling Social Security up by its roots.
** How the mass shooting at Michigan State University this evening with a lone gunman makes me want to do something to get the Congress to do their job -- for the People and their safety.
** How waiting for the Texas Judge to ban the abortion pill makes me and all women second class citizens to be hauled around by the hair by GOP apes.
** How a politician with integrity seems an oxymoron these days and I'd like to go back to my "Re-elect No One!" slogan.
What dawned on me this evening is that we need a People's Agenda that we get the majority of the People to support and only voting for those politicians who would sign on publicly to implement it. A movement not a party. A movement based on all of the People this time protecting the rights of others, protecting the right for others to vote, protecting the environment for all, to be a true democracy not just un-representative. the People's Agenda (tPA) would be akin to the Ten Commandments for Democracy, the Real Deal rather than the New Deal, Safety, Security and Sharing - Valuing generosity to the community over personal profit.
An "AND" society which synergistically grows to support the well-being of all. Where Doing the Right Thing is a motto to live by. Where Valuing Differences is an asset of different perspectives creating real solutions that help everyone. Where social media uses algorithms which already exist helping groups reach consensus and working together rather than hate and division. A movement where one's Party doesn't matter.
tPA is a clot busting drug which saved my life two hours before death (10 year anniversary of my near death will be a week from Saturday). Now we use tPA movement to bust the Congress and refill it with Synergists who take action and have empathy for all People.
Here's a short TED video by Derek Sivers on how to start a movement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxFt1BZiMTw
Please fill in the sentence -- One of the essential actions of tPA would be ______ . I'm thinking education (the 3 rRs - respect, responsibility and resilience), human rights for all, sustainability of the planet, sustainability of true democracy, security (food, retirement, well-being), safety (gun safety, no assault weapons, no ammunition that tears up human organs), etc......
We, the People, all of us this time being there for each other. We all live our dreams!
"President Biden continues to claim that they are intent on reducing or eliminating Social Security and Medicare. Good for Biden—because he is right! " Biden is right in three ways. He is accurate, as you say. Republicans want to reduce or eliminate social security and medicare. He is effective. The accusation has made Republicans confront their own agenda and then run away from it. He is energizing. The accusation gives Democrats a starting point in demonstrating the difference between the two political parties. Keep it up Joe Biden. And keep it up Robert Hubbell.
I just want to wish everyone a day of Love & Wokeness ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Robert, I agree with you that there is ample evidence that the GOP wants to end entitlements, especially the Social Security Ponzi scheme, but what Scalese in his inarticulate way cited is not evidence of it. I suspect Scalese was talking about Social Security Disability Insurance, not retiree benefits. He thinks people are getting checks when they could work. I'm not sure what evidence he would find to support that.
My firm did a 9-year, $125 million pilot program with nearly 1 million SSDI recipients to entice them to return to work. Normally when SSDI beneficiaries reach an income threshold (under $18,000), their SSDI benefits get cut off. To encourage them to work more and rely less on the SSDI trust fund, which has solvency issues, the pilot enabled them to keep getting 50% of the benefits for every dollar they earned above the threshold. Few people who participated in the pilot went back to work. Why? we don't know. Maybe they were too disabled to work. Maybe what was effectively a 50% marginal rate on earnings made working unattractive. Maybe the paperwork to participate in the program was too burdensome or hard to understand. In any event, the financial incentive didn't work, and it's far from clear whether a greater incentive would make a difference. So while it's hardly conclusive evidence that Scalese's assumption that people on SSDI could work is wrong, the behavior of a sample of nearly 1 million people is suggestive that he is. Not a small sample.
BTW, Congress initially wanted all SSDI participants to participate in the program, but fortunately cooler heads prevailed and created a pilot. Full participation would have cost $1 billion. So while there were complaints that our study squandered $125 million on the pilot, in fact, we saved the government the additional $875 million that lawmakers wanted to spend on a program that didn't work.
I once thought of being a Republican, but I couldn't flunk the IQ test low enough to qualify.
I agree the Democrats are on the offensive and when I sit back and think about it, they are in on the offensive because they are leading from strength having delivered many successful programs and have effectively demonstrated what good government looks like. I think the Democrats in addition to pushing Republicans on Social Security should adopt a slogan when the bogus Hunter Biden hearings and comments are made. That slogan should be repeated daily “ What about Jared? The Kushner story and the 2 Billion dollar payout is easier for voters to believe and understand than the unsubstantiated Hunter laptop story of a non government employee.
Remember the “ show and tell” programs in school when you were a kid? The Democrats should show Americans all the infrastructure projects (roads, bridges, dams , and utilities) that are currently being implemented in towns and cities all over America and have local representatives on local television showing pictures of these projects. These projects are employing local citizens and Democrats need to focus on what is happening now. A picture is worth a thousand words.
Want to permanently resolve the gqp issues with Social Security? Simple. Remove and end the slackers’ special congressional retirement pension plan and put them into the SSI system. I am disgusted and tired of the high pay and expense to pay for these feckless bastards.
Here is some of what we pay for:
Health Benefits. ...
Dental and Vision Benefits. ...
Flexible Spending Accounts. ...
Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) ...
Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) ...
Flexible Work Arrangements. ...
Commuting Assistance. ...
Annual and Sick Leave
That is just the tip of the iceberg. Add in mail, meals, limos, travel and staff cost….tens of billions of dollars.
Want to reduce government spending? Let them start at home and cut the congressional budget. Maybe then the republicans can find their way to raise the debt ceiling to pay for what they have spent.
😷 I have worn a mask whenever I go out. 🤞🏽I haven’t had a cold, flu or Covid since Covid lockdown.🤞🏽
There is evidence mask protect against cold, flu and other not so nice bugs.
Happy Valentine's Day everyone.
May I raise a completely off-topic comment? This concerns Kevin McCarthy and Bibi Netanyahu. The controversy in Israel about the Supreme Court shows, as does the appointment of the Special House Committee on weaponization, that a parliamentary form of government, while theoretically prone to compromise, can operate in exactly the opposite way. When voting is close, it hands a far-out minority to wield enormous power if a would-be leader has no principles of his own. Wing nuts like Gaetz, Greene and Jordan, just like the far right in Israel, would have no support in an election of all voters, yet can call the shots when their votes will give a power-hungry would-be leader a victory.
I fully believe that the GOP's genuine intentions regarding S.S. were let out of the bag by Senator Rick Scott. I wonder if Scalise's remarks are in regard to the Disability programs which were shoved into S.S., and have nothing to do with a "retirement" program per se. I think there would be a case funding-wise for separating the disability programs from S.S. Retirement contributions would best be dedicated strictly for retirement purposes.
I would not however trust the wrecking crew of the GOP to be involved in any overhaul, anymore than I would want them involved in a Constitutional Convention.
Didn’t MBS make an investment in Kushner’s private equity fund, not a loan?
Far be it from me to defend Steve Scalise but I don’t think he is quite making the argument you think he is. The argument you think he’s making is self-evidently absurd even to MAGA-heads, so why would he think it will gain traction with them?
Because that’s not what he means. I think his argument is that we can “strengthen Social Security” by cutting social service spending on all “the undeserving poor” by forcing THEM to work more for their paltry checks, saving “the gummint” money which will be available to fund Social Security.
Of course, that’s not how it works either. That’s just another mean-spirited way of appealing to MAGA-loving seniors by attacking the poor. Any money saved by such cuts could be spent anywhere the “gummint” decides: defense, cops, tax reductions for the wealthy, fraud and waste. There is no mechanism to fund Social Security and Medicare from government revenues except FICA taxes on employees and employers.
A friend sent an article from Mercola about the Cochrane Report. I decided I needed to educate myself. Here is what they actually said, "The high risk of bias in the trials, variation in outcome measurement, and relatively low adherence with the interventions during the studies hampers drawing firm conclusions.... There is uncertainty about the effects of face masks. The low to moderate certainty of evidence means our confidence in the effect estimate is limited" https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD006207.pub6/full
When are journalists going to go back to class? I remember being taught in school that there was an expected format for articles. The first paragraph was supposed to be something of an abstract for the rest of the article, with the body of the article expanding on the theme and presenting evidence or facts. It would end with some sort of summary or conclusion. Many people don't read past the first paragraph if they make it past the headline (which is why misleading headlines are such a bad thing).
Presenting the conclusions of a poorly done metadata study in the introduction of an article without a clear denunciation of the methodology is an example of a poorly constructed article at the least. It's actively spreading misinformation as well.