Scared and Angry

[Kyad06]

Watching smooth talking Eddie Munster wow the crowd of sheep le I can see my future going down the drain. I am 51 and have been working since I was 13., the last 22 years as a self employed worker. I have paid tens of thousands into Social Security and Medicare. I don't have a pension to look forward to. If this fascist gets his way I will be sentenced to death in the event of a life threatening illness when and if I can retire. This man has the ability to fool the vast majority of ignorant Americans who don't want these programs touched. We are done if he is elected now or in 2016. Biden has the most important debate of his life in front of him.

[Dkc05]

1. he reminds me of a klansman

Bigot ticket 2012. No diversity.

[yardwork]

2. Tell your friends. I'm about the same age as you and face the same future.

I do. not. get. why so many people our age - in their fifties - vote Republican. Every single one of us should be running as fast as we can away from the Republican Party and insisting that the Democratic Party get back to our bedrock values.

[byeya]

5. I'm older and in under the wire but I don't forget where I came from and have never

voted RepubliKKKan and refused to vote for some Democrats here in the southeast.
It's a daily job, writing letters, emailing, etc to let your Reps know that you're in their district/state and depend
on the insurance programs you've had deducted from your paycheck all your worklife and "don't pull dirty tricks on wage earning Americans"

The Grand Social Security fix was 25 years ago and it's working, and will work forever if the cap is lifted.

[handmade34]

3. we just work that much

harder for the next few months to make sure Pres. Obama is re-elected... I got your back!! hang in there...

[flamingdem]

17. +1 we have to turn our fear into action

this isn't a walk in the park.. and we need to regain congress

[FSogol]

21. Well said. Turn that fear into getting everyone you know informed & voting.

[lunasun]

4. angry and it will be at the idiots who cheer this guy in to office

Yes death knell heard today

[Kyad06]

6. They are out to steal our money

Think of how much money you have paid in to these programs. They want to steal it from us, its that simple. If that is not class warfare I dint know what is. We are literally fighting for our own money and health care we have already paid for. Hope the ignorant masses wake up in time or they will take us down with them.

[Jack Sprat]

20. I have thought of contingency plans.

What if I were faced with a voucher system instead of the Medicare I had always expected? If I was diagnosed with a serious fatal illness, I have thought it might be better to just use the funds available to buy heavy pain medications and refuse the expensive chemo or longterm therapies. Maybe even buy them off the street if the medications available weren't enough to stem the pain. Now isn't that an insulting end of life scenario for those Americans who have had their healthcare promises betrayed? I'd bet that's the choice many Americans would have to make in some BS voucher system. It's a dirty, rotten shame. All so the rich can live even easier than they already do.

[shcrane71]

7. So, what do you tell the High School History teacher who votes for Republicans?

Or the computer programmer, or accountant? A friend of mine once said that it's amazing to hear all these people with no marketable skills who vote for the death knell of programs that support their middle class lifestyle. I was surprised that she was saying history teachers, computer programmers, and accountants had no marketable skills. Then she explained that when one is competing in a truly global market place, the pay for these professions *have* to come down.

[life long demo]

8. I know what you are talking about

I'm 69 now, finally retired at 68 not because I decided I didn't want to work anymore (worked 51 years, started right out of high school), but because I simply couldn't work full time due to health problems. It's been a rocky road, but the last 10 years have been the worst for me. Co. I worked for went bankrupt in 2004, lost a lot from 401K, I also have no pension. Found a job after 10 months unemployment, paying less than 50% of what I was making, but I would have health insurance. What was left of my old 401K, now an IRA barely survived the 2007/2008 disaster. Retired in 2011. And these are the golden years????? I also won't survive if R/R gets in power. Vote all repugs out!

[coalition_unwilling]

9. Not true. Biden's most important debate was in 2008 against Caribou Barbie. This one, while

important, pales in comparison to that, imo.

That said, please do not surrender to despair. I know all too well its crippling power to paralyze and am in roughly the same boat as you (save for not being self-employed but currently unemployed).

Oh, and welcome to DU!

[Jane Austin]

10. That Ryan speech

was delivered amateurishly.

I don't think he's going to convince many people with that delivery.

[lunatica]

14. Every word out of their mouths were lying platitudes

All the uber-patriotic jargon gone amuck. That includes the USS Wisconsin, the fake walk off it's deck and down to land, the entire scene was so overdone it was ridiculous. And it reminded everyone of Bush with his sock-crotch telling us the war was over.

And Paul Ryan's voice grates. Even Romney has a better tone.

[woo me with science]

11. It is the most depressing election in recent memory.

No matter who wins, it is the election that will cement the public's acceptance of the dismantling of Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.

If Romney wins...we all know what happens.

But even if Obama wins....After a season of hearing the horrors that Ryan's budget would commit on Americans, the public will tearfully welcome the bipartisan "Grand Bargain" catfood commission cutting Medicare, Medicaid, and SS as the humane and generous choice.

The one percent have finally figured out a way to break down the single greatest obstacle to their looting this country. They have figured out how to make Americans welcome the cutting of our own safety nets.

[dtom67]

12. A distinct possibility...

'Tis difficult to stay positive;

The American standard of living is under attack by the most treasonous and hateful enemy it has every faced.

And our only weapon is a few votes at the fed,state and local levels.


You are right. Even if we win the election, we still face the onslaught of money from the enemies of democracy that fund the right.


The next few years will reveal the true state of our Democracy.

[freedom fighter jh]

15. I fear you may be right.

One amazing aspect of this is how they bring social security into it. Social security money is in a separate account and does not contribute to the deficit! Bernie Sanders keeps repeating this. Yet the argument that soc sec has to be cut so we'll have a balanced budget seems to be accepted.

Social security tax is regressive, meaning those who have less pay a greater percentage of their income. If the tax is left in place as is, but the funds are used for general revenue, then our whole tax structure will be upside down. Reverse Robin Hood indeed!

[jeff47]

13. Don't be scared

The Ryan budget is so popular Republicans won't pass it. In fact, Romney himself is releasing statements trying to distance the campaign from the Ryan budget, making this VP choice even more stupid.

Romney lost Florida today. Thus, he lost the election.

[Kyad06]

16. Sure hope you are right

The ironic thing is most tea baggers are geriatrics. Also Munster said his plan would not affect anyone 55 or over. They old tea baggers could care less about the younger generations.

[jeff47]

19. Fortunately, most teabaggers love their kids more than Ayn Rand. (nt)

[Jack Sprat]

18. That's why we can't let this happen. nt

[Ruby the Liberal]

22. Salient point in this:

Biden has the most important debate of his life in front of him

I'm actually excited about this pick. Now, we have the chance to put the GOP economic policies out front and damn center for all of the LIV that have no idea just how dangerous their vision is. I have been trying for YEARS to explain the concerns to RW friends/family - and now "he wants to give you vouchers so your medicare will go from $100 a month to $650" will FINALLY sink in.

This is a GOOD thing. Lets have the debate - boiled down to the lowest common denominator - and wake up the people who keep voting against their own best interests.