It’s another busy day here in the CatBox, as we move into another heat wave with mid 90°s weather by mid week. Please expect no more than a Personal Update tomorrow with no links messages on Care2. After we de-stink the vile TomCat, WWWendy and I are going to the new CatBox for a look-see.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:42 (average 5:14). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Special Announcement:
I have promoted Joanne Dixon, aka JD, from Editor to full Administrator, making her equal in authority to Squatch, Nameless, and I. It’s overdue. Hell! She’s around here more than I am, and I think we can trust her not to delete the site.
Congrats, JD!
Short Takes:
From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): Representative Rashida Tlaib Unveils Bold New Policy For America’s Poor
I like it, but I prefer guaranteed basic income for all American households of $20,000. That would be reduced by 50% of what a household earns, so a family earning $30,000 would get a $5,000 subsidy. A family earning $40,000 would get no subsidy. RESIST!!
From YouTube (Media Matters Channel): “Lock her up” and Sean Hannity’s “beyond despicable” hypocrisy
Barf Bag Alert!!
Faux Noise hypocrites? Lock them up! Lock them up! RESIST!!
From Alternet: President Donald Trump knows what buttons to push when it comes firing up his far-right base, and one of them is decrying “socialism” and insisting that the Democratic Party has become fully “socialist” in its ideology. Meanwhile, the term “democratic socialism” is a badge of honor for Sen. Bernie Sanders and his ally, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York City. But context is crucial. The “socialism” that Sanders and AOC champion is really a revival of New Deal/Great Society liberalism, and while both of them are left-of-center by U.S. standards, neither would be embraced by actual Marxist-Leninists or Maoists — in fact, communist websites have attacked them for not being true leftists.
But then, neither of them have claimed to be disciples of Che Guevara or Mao Tse-Tung. What they favor is regulated capitalism with a strong social safety net, realizing that the public and private sectors both have their place. And it’s possible to favor “socialism” in the form of Social Security, Medicare, public parks, the U.S. military or public libraries while applauding the private sector when it comes to software programs, Apple products, restaurants, smartphones, Ikea furniture or hip-hop recordings. One does not rule out the other.
Here are some forms of “socialism” that are wildly popular in the United States.
1. Social Security
One of the many government programs that came out of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal, Social Security has been around since 1935. President George W. Bush proposed privatizing Social Security in the 2000s, and the idea was met with a very negative response. Public support for the program remains strong: an NPR/PBS/ Marist poll conducted in 2018 found that 60% of Americans would rather reverse the GOP’s corporate tax cuts of 2017 than see the government cut spending for Social Security. And among Democrats, that number jumps to 80%.=
There is nothing wrong with supplementing Social Security with a private-sector retirement plan such as an IRA, a pension or a 401(k). But Social Security is a form of “socialism” that most Americans still support 84 years after it was implemented.
I shared the first of five examples. Click through for the other four. Also, add Libraries, Police Departments and Fire Departments to the list. RESIST!!
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