Yellow Dog

The GOP-controlled Congress is the Grinch who stole heating from needy families this winter.

The federal program to help poor families heat their homes got cut to less than half the amount originally promised by Congress, which could leave thousands of families who are struggling with skyrocketing heating bills this winter "out in the cold."

These are families hoping for a lump of coal (to help heat their homes), but who instead got news that the program which provides grants to needy residents to ease heating costs got slashed by the Republican Grinches, who are continuing their war on the poor and needy.

Heating aid slashed; N.E. faces burden - The Boston Globe

Just in time for Christmas: One of the biggest cuts to student aid in nearly a decade. To pay for the tax cuts to the rich, the fat cat Republicans in Congress are making huge cuts in programs that benefit the poor, the elderly, and college students. The legislation includes the following:

--States would have sweeping new authority to impose premiums and co-payments on millions of low-income people covered by Medicaid. States can also scale back benefits for many recipients.

--For the elderly, it would be more difficult to qualify for Medicaid coverage for nursing home care if they transfer assets to their children or other relatives for less than fair market value.

--Medicare would freeze payments for home health services and reduce payments for medical imaging.

--Welfare recipients would be subject to stricter work requirements. States would be subject to new financial penalties unless they put more people to work or further reduce the number of families receiving assistance.

--Aid that helps states collect child support from absent parents would be reduced.

Forget about the so-called "War on Christmas"; the GOP scrooges have waged a war on the poor and sick. Glad to see that Congress is embracing the true spirit of Christmas.

Students to Bear Big Burden Under the Final Budget Bill - New York Times

First we learned the Bush administration disregarded laws and rewrote statutes so that they could torture prisoners. Then we learned of secret (and illegal) prisons in Europe. Now we have learned of secret spying on U.S. citizens. What's even more appalling than this secretive and criminal behavior is the number of Republican apologists who act like a President committing a felony is no big deal. I have to agree with this columnist, who hits the nail on the head:

Anybody who rationalizes George W. Bush’s illegal use of secret, warrantless wiretaps against American citizens is no friend of democracy. They may call themselves “conservatives.” In reality, they are ideologues who place party over country, enemies of the Constitution and its freedoms.

The last time no-warrant, presidentially authorized wiretaps came before the Supreme Court was 1972, courtesy of President Richard M. Nixon, who used the FBI to spy on political foes and famously decreed that “when the president does it, that means it’s not illegal.” The court voted 8-0 against Nixonian presumption. In his concurring opinion, Justice William O. Douglas quoted his illustrious predecessor, Justice Louis Brandeis: “Those who won our independence by revolution were not cowards. They did not fear political change. They did not exalt order at the cost of liberty.”

It’s not much of an exaggeration to say that Bush is claiming powers surrendered by the English monarchy in the Magna Carta of 1215 (although medieval monarchs regained them ). In a nation of laws, not men, warrantless surveillance should be seen as the recipe for a police state.

I’m with Ben Franklin : “Those that would give up essential liberty in pursuit of a little temporary security deserve neither liberty nor security.”

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