We're Putting New Cover Sheets On All the TPS Reports Now

Mother Jones does a great job with some of the visual pieces it runs with various data illustrating our economic stratification. I frequently link to this one about income inequality, because it is simply indispensable for illustrating just how far down the plutocracy rabbit hole we have ventured. But they have another great illustrated feature up called Overworked America that is well worth your time. 

I think one of the most shocking and saddest chart is the one where it shows that most of the African continent requires paid maternity leave. The US still has no such requirement. Parents must take time off through short-term disability and the Family Medical Leave of Absence Act. Short-term disability is an insurance benefit (and not 100% of your salary in most cases), and FMLA is unpaid. It just prevents your employer from firing you while you are out on FMLA approved leave.

So yeah. We are behind Africa in the benefits we afford to new mothers. Africa. You know, that giant chunk of land south of Europe and Asia that doesn't exactly boast a reputation of modern, civilized democracies but more often than not brings to mind images of genocide, famine, sectarian violence, and civil war. That's the continent that affords mandatory paid maternity leave. Not ours.

The Budget Cuts Will Continue Until Morale Improves

Because we can't ever raise taxes to deal with deficits. It's a lot more convenient to just let people die or force them to make the choice between eating their next meal or seeking needed medical care.

Republican Healthcare Policy: Universal Repeal

No one could have predicted that the GOP's "repeal and replace" slogan on the Affordable Care Act was really just "repeal":

More than four months after their triumphant vote to scrap the Democrats' healthcare reform law, House Republicans have yet to fulfill the second part of their campaign pledge to "repeal and replace" the legislation.

Republicans say healthcare has taken a back seat to issues like the debt ceiling and Medicare reform but stress that they have a number of reform proposals up their sleeve.

"Our focus right now is on repealing all of ‘Obamacare’ and pieces of it where we can," said Rep. John Kline [R-Minn.], the chairman of the Education and Workforce Committee, one of three panels with jurisdiction over the health policy. "And then we're working on spurring the economy and getting America back to work with jobs.

“The replacement pieces for healthcare are still on the table,” Kline said, “but we're not pushing them right now because we've got a full plate with other stuff."

God, we're busy with other stuff and things guys, okay?! We just haven't had a chance to get to the "replace" part yet!

Perhaps their "full plate with other stuff" includes Paul Ryan's budget, which again, is another "repeal" scheme without the "replace," as Paul Krugman aptly notes:

I’m seeing many attempts to shout down anyone making this obvious point, and not just from Republican politicians. For some reason, many commentators seem to believe that accurately describing what the G.O.P. is actually proposing amounts to demagoguery. But there’s nothing demagogic about telling the truth.

Start with the claim that the G.O.P. plan simply reforms Medicare rather than ending it. I’ll just quote the blogger Duncan Black, who summarizes this as saying that “when we replace the Marines with a pizza, we’ll call the pizza the Marines.” The point is that you can name the new program Medicare, but it’s an entirely different program — call it Vouchercare — that would offer nothing like the coverage that the elderly now receive. (Republicans get huffy when you call their plan a voucher scheme, but that’s exactly what it is.)

Medicare is a government-run insurance system that directly pays health-care providers. Vouchercare would cut checks to insurance companies instead. Specifically, the program would pay a fixed amount toward private health insurance — higher for the poor, lower for the rich, but not varying at all with the actual level of premiums. If you couldn’t afford a policy adequate for your needs, even with the voucher, that would be your problem.

But Democrats are meanieheads for using "Mediscare" tactics and WHAT IS THEIR PLAN FOR MEDICARE, HUH?! And it's "premium support," you jerks, which is like, totally not a voucher!

The Republican policy on healthcare across the board is that you should pretty much fuck off and hope for the best. Anyone who argues something to the contrary is lying to themselves. They are consistent on this across the board - they want nothing more than to dismantle Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, and any other piece of legislation that provides coverage not dictated by the supreme wisdom of the free market Jebus and the invisible hand.