Neighborhood Buzz
A Blog for Democrats and Independents
Editor Jerry Meyer
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.
Martin Niemoller -- written after he realized the reality of Adolph Hitler and what he was doing.
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So, what are you going to do when they come for you?
I'm guessing that like most of us, you have no direct contact with any of the shooting incidents that have taken place around our nation. They are something on television. We gasp and recoil, but the reality is they are happening to people we don't know. If you do know someone involved I apologize and express my sorrow for your loss.
So, what are you going to do when the mall door opens and a shooter with a great deal of ammunition opens fire - and your wife, your husband, your son, your daughter, your grandchild is struck and killed by a bullet from an assault weapon.
Thoughts and prayers are no longer enough. They never were. It's time to say ENOUGH!
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Letter to the Editor
The violence must be put down. Congress must show their significance by an immediate return to their desks for bipartisan laws that will authorize a war on murderers. This means all guns registered and an end to the manufacture or sale of automatic weapons. The money to enforce can come from that wasted on building walls and confining immigrants. Need also is a pledge to refuse NRA contributions. People should not lose the right to protect their homes, but weapons without identification should mean fines and worse.
Joel Rosenblum
The information below was gathered for you to consider in connection with the visit of Donald Trump to the Villages. The information is still valid, although his visit was postponed.
As of 2018, There Were
Over 4.5 Million Total Medicare Beneficiaries In The State Of Florida. [Kaiser Family Foundation, Total Number of
Medicare Beneficiaries, 2018]
Trump’s FY20 Budget
Called For Cutting $845 Billion From Medicare, A Program He Previously Promised
To Protect. “Trump’s ‘Budget for a
Better America’ also includes dozens of spending cuts and policy overhauls that
frame the early stages of the debate for the 2020 election. For example, Trump
for the first time calls for cutting $845 billion from Medicare, the popular
health care program for the elderly that in the past he had largely said he
would protect.” [Washington Post, 3/11/19]
Trump’s FY19 Budget
Would Cut Medicaid Spending By About $250 Billion Over A Decade. “But Trump's plan does seek $554 billion in
cuts to Medicare spending over 10 years, plus about $250 billion in cuts to
Medicaid spending.” [David Lazarus, Los Angeles Times, 2/12/18]
Social Security
Trump’s FY20 Budget
Proposed Spending $26 Billion Less On Social Security Programs. “And Mr. Trump proposed spending $26 billion
less on Social Security programs, the federal retirement program, including a
$10 billion cut to the Social Security Disability Insurance program, which
provides benefits to disabled workers.” [New York Times, 3/11/19]
Trump’s FY19 Budget
Proposed $72.5 Billion In Cuts To SSDI And Supplemental Security Income. “President Trump’s 2018 budget proposed $72.5
billion in cuts to SSDI and to Supplemental Security Income, another program
for disabled people, over 10 years.” [Vox, 2/6/18]
Affordable Care Act
Donald Trump's administration is
part of a lawsuit to declare the entire Affordable Care Act unconstitutional.
Two major issues for older workers, seniors, and retirees are that those with
pre-existing conditions would lose protections and it would allow insurers to
charge older people more.
7.8 Million Floridians with Pre-Existing
Conditions Would Be Put At Risk: As many as 7,838,652
people with pre-existing conditions in Florida could have been denied coverage
before the ACA went into effect. [Compilation of State Data on the ACA, Health
And Human Services, December 2016]
Older People: Overturning the
ACA would allow insurance companies to charge older people significantly more
than younger people – in many cases making the coverage unaffordable. The
ACA set a 3 to 1 rating band, protecting older Americans.
Young Adults on Their Parents’ Coverage: Overturning the ACA would not allow children to stay on their parents’ coverage until age 26.
Young Adults on Their Parents’ Coverage: Overturning the ACA would not allow children to stay on their parents’ coverage until age 26.
Florida Would See It’s Uninsured Rate Jump Up 67
Percent: The number of people uninsured in Florida would
increase by 1,560,000 -- Or 67 Percent -- under repeal compared to current Law.
[Urban Institute, March 2019]
Jerry--thank you for this blog. So informative and so helpful!
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