I find it hard to believe what's going on in America these days, and even harder to believe that the people who probably care about it do so little to protest about it. I cut this from an e-mail notice that I got from our friends at Move On dot org.
The Republican budget would:
1. Destroy 700,000 jobs, according to an independent economic analysis.
2. Zero out federal funding for National Public Radio and public television.
3. Cut $1.3 billion from community health centers—which will deprive more than 3 million low-income people of health care over the next few months.
4. Cut nearly a billion dollars in food and health care assistance to pregnant women, new moms, and children.
5. Kick more than 200,000 children out of pre-school by cutting funds for Head Start.
6. Force states to fire 65,000 teachers and aides, dramatically increasing class sizes, thanks to education cuts.
7. Cut some or all financial aid for 9.4 million low- and middle-income college students.
8. Slash $1.6 billion from the National Institutes of Health, a cut that experts say would "send shockwaves" through cancer research, likely result in cuts to Alzheimer's and Parkinson's research, and cause job losses.
9. End the only federal family planning program, including cutting all federal funding that goes to Planned Parenthood to support cancer screenings and other women's health care.
10. Send 10,000 low-income veterans into homelessness by cutting in half the number of veterans who get housing vouchers this year.
End re-post.
Add the attacks on voting rights for groups that generally don't vote Republican, the attacks on workers rights, the general hostility to rights of privacy and association, and the blind support for all things war and security related, and you have a full blown crisis of American democracy, a crisis that in my opinion rises to the level of an existential threat.
Are we stupid enough to allow this to happen while we all yawn and follow closely the antics of Charlie Sheen? And yes, that is a rhetorical question.
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2 comments:
These are all abstract threats. The rising price of gas has an immediate and current effect on everyone, yet few are complaining. In Europe, they'd be rioting in the streets.
I think it's due to the Frog in the slowly heated pot of water Effect. All these things have been enacted so incrememntally, the average American hasn't noticed the changes. Plus there are too many didtractions. Like Charlie Sheen.
-E
I guess it's not so bad. Everybody seems to have a G4 Smart Phone, and nobody's car is up on blocks because of the gas prices.
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