. . .not because he gave them hell--but because he gave them hope.
As a Libertarian political thinker, it's my opinion that terrorism takes many forms, both foreign and domestic. The first clean-up starts with busting the lies in our own homeland, regardless of grand old political dogma. Research sites abound, feel free and look for the truth. And sometimes y'all, it kicks like a donkey and stomps like an elephant.
And as I watch this Republican convention quite somberly, people who claim compassion need to practice what they preach. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/08/31/politics/main639851.shtml
From the rumor-bustin' website: Type in "Social Security" in the search box of www.snopes.com addressing the true nature of what social security was designed originally to do.
Remarks With President Truman at the Signing in Independence of the
Medicare Bill--July 30, 1965
"PRESIDENT TRUMAN. Thank you very much. I am glad you like the President.
I like him too. He is one of the finest men I ever ran across.
Mr. President, Mrs. Johnson, distinguished guests:
You have done me a great honor in coming here today, and you have made me
a very, very happy man.
This is an important hour for the Nation, for those of our citizens who
have completed their tour of duty and have moved to the sidelines. These
are the days that we are trying to celebrate for them. These people are
our prideful responsibility and they are entitled, among other benefits,
to the best medical protection available.
Not one of these, our citizens, should ever be abandoned to the indignity
of charity. Charity is indignity when you have to have it. But we don't
want these people to have anything to do with charity and we don't want
them to have any idea of hopeless despair.
Mr. President, I am glad to have lived this long and to witness today the
signing of the Medicare bill which puts this Nation right where it needs
to be, to be right. Your inspired leadership and a responsive
forward-looking Congress have made it historically possible for this day
to come about.
Thank all of you most highly for coming here. It is an honor I haven't had
for, well, quite awhile, I'll say that to you, but here it is:"
THE PRESIDENT. "The people of the United States love and voted for Harry
Truman, not because he gave them hell--but because he gave them hope.
I believe today that all America shares my joy that he is present now when
the hope that he offered becomes a reality for millions of our fellow
citizens.
I am so proud that this has come to pass in the Johnson Administration.
But it was really Harry Truman of Missouri who planted the seeds of
compassion and duty which have today flowered into care for the sick, and
serenity for the fearful.
Many men can make many proposals. Many men can draft many laws.
But few have the piercing and humane eye which can see beyond the words to the
people that they touch. Few can see past the speeches and the political
battles to the doctor over there that is tending the infirm, and to the
hospital that is receiving those in anguish, or feel in their heart
painful wrath it the injustice which denies the miracle of healing to the
old and to the poor. And fewer still have the courage to stake reputation,
and position, and the effort of a lifetime upon such a cause when there
are so few that share it.
But it is just such men who illuminate the life and the history of a
nation. And so, President Harry Truman, it is in tribute not to you, but
to the America that you represent, that we have come here to pay our love
and our respects to you today. For a country can be known by the quality
of the men it honors. By praising you, and by carrying forward your
dreams, we really reaffirm the greatness of America.
It was a generation ago that Harry Truman said, and I quote him:
"Millions of our citizens do not now have a full measure of opportunity to achieve
and to enjoy good health. Millions do not now have protection or security
against the economic effects of sickness. And the time has now arrived for action to help them attain that opportunity and to help them get that
protection."
Well, today, Mr. President, and my fellow Americans, we are taking such
action--20 years later. And we are doing that under the great leadership
of men like John McCormack, our Speaker; Carl Albert, our majority leader;
our very able and beloved majority leader of the Senate, Mike Mansfield;
and distinguished Members of the Ways and Means and Finance Committees of
the House and Senate--of both parties, Democratic and Republican.
Because the need for this action is plain; and it is so clear indeed that
we marvel not simply at the passage of this bill, but what we marvel at is
that it took so many years to pass it. And I am so glad that Aime Forand
is here to see it finally passed and signed--one of the first authors.
There are more than 18 million Americans over the age of 65. Most of them
have low incomes. Most of them are threatened by illness and medical
expenses that they cannot afford.
And through this new law, Mr. President, every citizen will be able, in
his productive years when he is earning, to insure himself against the
ravages of illness in his old age.
This insurance will help pay for care in hospitals, in skilled nursing
homes, or in the home. And under a separate plan it will help meet the
fees of the doctors."
NOW, the truth:
Q: Which party put a tax on Social Security?
A: The Democratic party.
FALSE
Actually, it was Ronald Reagan, a Republican, who signed a bill taxing
Social Security benefits.
http://www.ssa.gov/history/briefhistory3.html
"The 1983 Amendments
In the early 1980s the Social Security program faced a serious short-term
financing crisis. President Reagan appointed a blue-ribbon panel, known as
the Greenspan Commission, to study the financing issues and make
recommendations for legislative changes. The final bill, signed into law
in 1983, made numerous changes in the Social Security and Medicare
programs, including the taxation of Social Security benefits, the first
coverage of Federal employees under Social Security and an increase in the
retirement age in the next century."
Q: Which party increased the tax on Social Security?
A: The Democratic Party with Al Gore casting the deciding vote.
TRUE
Since the statement does not mention any specific bill that Al Gore cast
the deciding vote, it led to an exhaustive search. As a Vice President,
he could have exercised his constitutional powers to break a tie vote in
the Senate.
I did find as part of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, the
VP did cast a vote in the Senate to break a tie. This Act was a huge bill
that covered everything from agricultural commodities, licensing of radio
spectrum, luxury automobile taxes, fuels, banking, medicare, etc., etc.
The bill passed in the House by a vote of 218-216 and in the Senate by
51-50.
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Senator Zell Miller sounded like a new age Ku Klux Klansman to me, being a former segregationist. And of course we know that Klansmen were never compassionate to anyone who disagreed with their methods.
Thanks for the confirmation, Senator Zell Miller. May you make the best seller list of authors on-the-take.