Bum Steers

Sen. Martha McSally won’t commit to backing additional financial support for state and local governments  during the COVID-19 pandemic, saying taxpayers should not bail them out for years of mismanagement.

During a recent virtual town hall hosted by the mayor of Surprise, McSally, R-Ariz., reiterated her call for increased flexibility in how funds can be used, but made clear she sees big, blue-state cities as trying to fleece red states.

“I’m just going to be frank with you guys, OK,” she said in an hourlong videotaped event. “This is not the time for states and cities — unlike Arizona, unlike Surprise — who have mismanaged their budgets over the course of many decades, for them to use this as an opportunity to see you, as a taxpayer in Arizona, as a cash cow for them in whatever city you want to talk about, whether it’s Chicago or New York or whatever."

Here's a link:  Cash Cow Disease

There are people who naturally have empathy for the misfortunes of others, accepting and understanding that many folks who need help have no choice, while others game the system.

The opposite side of that coin are people who insist there is a much higher percentage of "system gamers."

Those are the types of people depicted in Bruce Hornsby's classic, "The Way It Is." Those are the people who sneer, just for fun, at those in the welfare line, and say, "Get a job."

In my experience most people not only want to work, they also need to work. Most people are ashamed that they are needy.

Those who mock the unfortunate are despicable in my view, and yet rather than use generic labels, as in GOP Senator, I prefer politician because it is not a coincidence that the wealthiest among us are also, quite often, the most cynical. There are plenty of wealthy Democrats, so it is not the curse of having money that causes the disconnect from those who have to those who don't. 

What is appalling is that with the current administration and its various enablers, either in elected office, in the media, or simply a lobby lizard hoping to score, the amount of blame and scorn they have for those who need food stamps, for instance, or a decent lunch in a public school.

These are Americans conveniently forgetting that luck is an enormous factor in the path that is taken by other Americans — yet the scorn and anger suggests that the poor are really from another country and are "not actual Americans." 

The best example of luck at birth belongs to our "president," who insists he's a self-made billionaire, which is two lies at once. Had the con man not been given a fortune, he'd be selling used shoes in a failing mall that time had forgotten. 

It's not inherently a right wing vs left wing issue, but few Democrats have publicly demanded that benefits for the poor be reduced.

Is it a form of greed? 

To not only be well off, but to actively seek a form of retribution for those who aren't? 

Or is this public shaming of the misfortunate merely pandering to "the base" ... and  for this current administration, the word base can be used on every level.  Heartless, cruel, vindictive and seemingly immune to any reality that does not amplify or enhance their bias.

The current administration's answer for most problems is yet another tax cut for the wealthiest among us, which the 1 percent does not need, and at the same time inflict even more hardship on the much less fortunate. It's a vicious combination of avarice and spite ... that the poor must be punished because they chose that route in life.

The White House wants to end Obamacare and get its hands on the Social Security funds, spewing that healthcare must be a private entity and that Social Security is an entitlement — in essence, abolish "free" medical care and stop handing out cash to the poor. This is jam for the Trump base. If it is not Obama's fault, then it must be those existing on the margins.

These days there is quite a bit of hand-wringing about the choice of candidates in the coming presidential election. I don't see a choice at all.  

It's as easy as Life vs Death.