American Austerity

[gotsnowgotslush]

If the people who rant against the welfare system in America were honest with everyone, they would say the word that would echo what is being said across the pond...

austerity.


Mr.Ronald Reagan used his public voice to create a false picture of welfare queen, and he pitted himself against Union workers.

Today, we have Americans that have educations, credentials, experience, and no hope of getting a job. They have run out of hope, because benefits for the unemployed are reaching Scrooge inspired levels.

The people who have inherited Mr.Ronald Reagan's imaginary world, have ripped away the funds that kept women and children safe.

They live the lives of luxury and style while holding a public office. They sell the power of their high position to the highest bidder.

Trim, Cut, Hack, they cry. Behind closed doors, their allies and pals grasp for the money freed from responsible use.

Boston is one of the few places, where the young,the elderly, the poor, sick, injured and disadvantaged have found some protections.

I do not know how long that will last. A strong faction has risen. They fed heavily and well, the last time they had their way.

We are still paying for the feast.


June 20, 2015

"Without a welfare state I wouldn't have been educated, without a welfare state I wouldn't have had anywhere to live, without a welfare state my mom would've died of cancer several times."

"I am personally a product of the welfare state – not least because I signed on for eight years while I learned to be a comedian, so somewhat grateful for it."

- Russell Brand


http://www.digitalspy.com/celebrity...-austerity-demonstration.html#~pgcVWkFRWS1tjM

 

[Aglaopheme]

Yes.....

.....in a word......Greece.

 

[gotsnowgotslush]

Compare American austerity with UK austerity


June 20, 2015

Comment from the protest

"It is a squalid, filthy, decrepit attitude that says a tiny number of people at the top of society have every right to take the money and then to say to the poor ‘You have too much."

Tories reply to this weekend's protest, by confirming £12 billion dollars in cuts to services

Does that ring a bell, in recognition of the American Republican demand for budget cuts ?

http://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2015/jun/20/anti-austerity-demonstrations-live

http://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2015/jun/20/anti-austerity-demonstrations-live

Here’s what has already been cut by the last UK government:

Police

More than 1,000 police community support officer (PCSO) jobs have been cut in England each year since 2010, a total of 4,430 positions, according to Home Office statistics analysed by Unison. PCSOs make up 75 per cent of neighbourhood policing teams. The BBC reports the number of police officers currently employed across England and Wales is 127,000 – the lowest since September 2001.

Firefighters

By 2011 more than 1,000 jobs had been cut across England, Scotland and Wales according to the Fire Brigades Union. By 2014, 10 firestations in London alone were forced to close, causing 552 jobs to be lost, as part of £45m worth of savings needed to be made across the capital’s service by 2016.

Disabled people

Under the last government, the Independent Living Fund, which provided £320m worth of financial support to around 18,000 disabled people, was abolished. The fund was set up to allow disabled people live in their communities rather than residential care.

NHS spending

In 2012, the Independent on Sunday reported Labour analysis of Treasury figures showed NHS spending was found to have been cut by £800m in real terms by analysing Treasury figures. The numbers showed that NHS spending in 2009/10 had been £99.8bn, in 2010/11 it was £102bn, and in 2011/12 £104.3bn. When inflation had been taken into account and the numbers based on 2011/12 prices, NHS spending had actually fallen from £105.1bn in 2009/10; £104.4bn in 2010/11 – a fall of 0.6 per cent; and £104.3bn in 2011/12, a further fall of 0.1 per cent.

NHS children’s mental health services

NHS spending on children’s mental health services in England has dropped by nearly £50m between 2009/10 and 2013/14 – the latest year figures are available for. The figures were revealed through a parliamentary answer, showing that in the last year of the previous Labour government spending had been at £766m in terms of 2013/14 prices. The figures showed that under the Coalition this had dropped to £717m in 2013/14.

NHS mental health trusts funding

Funding for mental health trusts and the services they provide have been eight per cent in real terms since 2010, equating to nearly £600m after inflation had been accounted for, an investigation by Community Care and BBC News discovered. During this period the community mental health teams, which aim to stop people’s mental health passing a “crisis point”, have seen their referrals rise by 20 per cent.

Child benefit

Child benefit, once available to all parents, is no longer available in full for families where one parent earns more than £50,000 per year.

Social care

A million elderly people aged between 65 and 89 who need help with basic tasks like washing, dressing and climbing the stairs have been left to fend for themselves due to cuts to local-government funded social care over the past five years according to Age UK. The charity says this puts more pressure on the NHS.

The Health and Social Care Information Centre found that eight per cent of the adult social care workforce at local councils, equating to 10,600 jobs, were cut in the 2013/14 year alone as part of 40 per cent cuts to local council budgets.

Legal Aid

Changes to Legal Aid as part of plans to reform the system and save £350m a year came into effect in 2013 across England and Wales, meaning certain types of cases are now no longer eligible for public funding, including divorce, child contact, residence disputes, welfare benefits, employment, clinical negligence. It has led to an increase in people being forced to represent themselves in court, while the Justice Committee in March found the Ministry of Justice has failed to give legal aid to those who needed it most and to have not delivered value for money to the taxpayer.

Domestic violence

Cuts in funding to services for victims of domestic violence have seen 112 specialist posts cut in 2013 alone. On a “snapshot day” on 27 June 2013, 155 women and 103 children were forced to be turned away from the first refuge they approached, Women’s Aid found.

Housing benefit

The ‘bedroom tax’ has seen the amount of rent people can claim housing benefit for reduced by 14 per cent if a person lives in a council property with one spare room, and 25 per cent if there are two or more spare rooms.

Benefit cap

In 2013 the Government capped the total amount of benefits that working age people could claim in a single week, regardless of whether they are entitled to a higher amount of benefits or not, with an estimated 50,000 households thought to be losing an average of £93 per week.

 

[gotsnowgotslush]

A strange tale, of a man who shouts that the taxpayer cannot afford to pay for luxuries...

Any discussion over changing the status quo in the National Weather Service takes place with an elephant in the room that adds a layer of distrust and discomfort to the conversation.

One of the most infamous bills introduced in Congress in recent years was the National Weather Service Duties Act of 2005, a steaming pile of legislation introduced by former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA).

The bill would have abolished the National Weather Service as we know it, privatizing the agency to such an extent that private weather companies would have exclusive rights to the data and information we paid for with our tax dollars in order to sell it back to us.

This horrifying thought is compounded by the fact that the bill’s introduction may have been influenced by AccuWeather. In addition to thousands dollars donated directly to the senator’s campaigns over the years, AccuWeather CEO Joel Myers donated $2,000 to Santorum’s PAC—America’s Foundation—on April 12, 2005, two days before the former senator introduced the legislation.

Thankfully, that bill died a painful death in committee.

http://thevane.gawker.com/u-s-senate-chickens-out-of-fixing-major-issues-in-weat-1712986887