My Fear: A Second More Tyrannous Term

O, it is excellent to have a giant’s strength, but it is tyrannous to use it like a giant.
—    Shakespeare
[Are we better off today than we were four years ago?  I’m not just talking about 185,000 dead.  I’m not just talking about a crashed economy.  If there were no virus and we were still tooling along at 4% unemployment, were you REALLY better off?  Almost half of ALL Americans were living pay-check to paycheck.  Many are / were working two minimum wage jobs and are / were barely getting by.  Almost 2/3rd of working Americans have almost no savings for a “sudden” $400 emergency, let alone for retirement.  President  Trump (and the Republicans) want to destroy Social Security by de-funding it and promising it will be “paid for” from increased tax revenue from the future “booming” economy.  The truth is the SSA actuarial office has said if SSA taxes are eliminated, the SSA will run out of funds COMPLETELY in 2023!!!  President Trump lies multiple times EVERY day.  He is not being casual with the facts.  He is NOT just kidding.  He is LYING!  And, he is lying to constantly try to stoke fear.  Four years ago, it was the raping and murdering Mexicans invading across the border.  Now, it’s the liberals (i.e. “Democrats”) who are already here.  IF crime, rioting and violence are out of control, why hasn’t he done anything about the root causes of the problems.  The Republican controlled Senate is still dithering about a much needed economic relief package.  Now, when I say “Republican” controlled, what I mean is TRUMP controlled Senate as it’s his Cabinet level team which is doing the negotiations with the Democrats and whatever is agreed will pass both sides of Congress.  Senator McConnell is simply a figurehead manipulating the rules to the Republican advantage.  He is not the player / negotiator in the room with the Dems.  There is no relief because Trump wants to blame the Democrats (Pelosi and Shumer) in the lead up to the election.  So, I ask two questions:  Do you really believe President Trump is acting in your interests?  And, are you better off than you were four years ago?     —    KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2019	Reality And Imperfection
	Day 8: One Stone
2018	Pity The Nation (Part 1)
	Day 41: Hiccup Or End Of Days?
2017	Sharp-Edged Beauty
2016	Start, Keep, Finish
2015	Lifetime Friends
2014	Acknowledgement
2013	Longevity, Tenacity and Diversity
2012	What Reagan Really Cared About
2011	Seeming Sane (Or Not)

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Register And Vote

In November remember – DO NOT flip a coin, throw a dart at the ballot, or close your eyes and pull any lever your hand rests on.  And DO NOT vote for a President and then skip the rest of the state and local candidates and issues on your ballot:
1. You’re not JUST voting for President
2. You’re voting for Democracy and you’re voting against allowing the USA to become yet another authoritarian regime.
3. You’re voting for Federal leadership to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
4. You’re voting for who replaces Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court.
5. You’re voting for the appointment of a qualified Secretary of Education and getting rid of the unqualified Betsy Devos.
6. You’re voting for federal judges.
7. You’re voting for the rule of law.
8. You’re voting for saving national parks.
9. You’re voting for letting kids out of cages and reunited with their families.
10. You’re voting for clean air, clean water and more sustainable energy resources.
11. You’re voting for scientists to be allowed to speak about climate change and for rebuilding the CDC.
12. You’re voting for what a President says and does on Twitter.
13. You’re voting for housing rights.
14. You’re voting for minorities to be treated with dignity by those who are supposed to protect and serve all people under the Constitution of the United States.
15. You’re voting for non-Christians to be able to adopt and to feel like full citizens.
16. You’re voting for Dreamers.
17. You’re voting so that there will be Social Security and Medicare when you retire.
18. You’re voting for veterans to get the care they deserve.
19. You’re voting for rural hospitals.
20. You’re voting so that everyone can have health insurance without regard to employment status or income.
21. You’re voting for the preservation of PBS.
22. You’re voting to have a President who doesn’t embarrass this country every time she or he attends an international meeting.
23. You’re voting for sensible gun laws.
No Democrat is perfect.  They won’t pass your purity test.  And yet every single one of them will be better than four more years of Trump!!!  Please be reasonable and STAY FOCUSED!
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On This Day In:
2019	Always Surprises
2018	You’ve Got To Stand For Something
	Day 24: Hand Touching Hand
2017	The Tide Will Turn
2016	Dreamers
2015	Three Roars
2014	Be R-E-L-E-V-A-N-T
2013	Lacking
2012	So Small A Thing
2011	Is Your Time Valuable?

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Always A Goal

Social Security will always be a goal, never a finished thing, because human aspirations are infinitely expandable, just as human nature is infinitely perfectible.
—    Arthur J. Altmeyer
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On This Day In:
2014	Standing Strong
2013	Shaken And Stirred
	The Bird With The Broken Wing
2012	Friends In High Places
2011	Objective Independence

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The Hazards And Vicissitudes Of Life

We can never insure 100 percent of the population against 100 percent of the hazards and vicissitudes of life, but we have tried to frame a law which will give some measure of protection to the average citizen and to his family against the loss of a job and against poverty-ridden old age.
—    President Franklin D. Roosevelt
(When he signed the 1935 Social Security Act)
[Now the middle class is once again faced with the conservative / libertarian position that “some measure of protection to the average citizen and to his family against the loss of a job and against poverty-ridden old age” is too much protection and America needs to push back when the time is right to receive this protection (extend the age for eligibility), reduce the amount of protection provided by the government (decrease the amounts of payment), and allow individuals to “invest” their funds in the stock market (gamble with your future funds).    —    KMAB]
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