Gray Panthers of Austin

TheAgendaProject:

With pretty boy Paul Ryan’s draconian and savage cuts to Medicare in his budget proposal, we have to ask ourselves: Is America still beautiful without Medicare?

Happy new year members. You can now subscribe to the Gray Panthers blog by clicking the button on the sidebar at right. An email will arrive in your inbox when a new post is published, alerting you to upcoming events and issues of interests. We don’t sell or spam of course, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Meanwhile here are a few links to get your blood boiling as we head into what’s sure to be a memorable year in American politics:

Bushwacking Obama: Conservatives Seek to Trap President on Social Security

Everything about this argument – which is gaining ever greater force inside the beltway bubble – is wrong. Social Security is not broken, and doesn’t need to be “reformed.” It contributes nothing to the deficit, and reforming it will contribute nothing to deficit reduction in the short or medium term.

Future $150 Billion Industry Preys on Need for Easy Money

We seem to be a nation of suckers, easily gullible marks for the latest legal siren: medical credit cards.

Marketing is aggressive. …For people who can pay, the credit cards are useful. For people who can’t, the credit cards are a danger, as threatening as any siren of old.

5 Things You Didn't Know About the Death Penalty

Texas, of all places, could see the death penalty ruled unconstitutional. The Lone Star State has earned a reputation over the years for being unapologetically execution-happy, but, believe it or not, a hearing was started earlier this month to examine the constitutionality of the death penalty in the state.

Rick Perry Looks To Take Texas Rebellion National

Gov. Rick Perry’s anti-Washington rhetoric, which helped hand him a re-election landslide, is about to be put to the test as he girds for a series of states’ rights clashes with the federal government.

New CNN poll finds Americans optimistic about world events in 2011, not so much about their personal situation

Sixty-three percent say they are hopeful about what the new year holds in store for the world in general, up 12 points from last December.

“On the home front, Americans are just as optimistic, with 64 percent saying they are hopeful about their own personal lives in the new year,” says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. “But that number is down from 69 percent who felt that way 12 months ago.”

A Happier New Year for The Alzheimer's Community

For the 11 million Americans caring for a husband, wife, family member, or friend with Alzheimer’s disease or a related disorder, this New Year’s Eve will be more hopeful than usual because Congress has finally voted to establish the National Alzheimer’s Project Act (NAPA).

And rounding out the link roundup is a valentine to the visionary Patti Smith, by NY Times columnist Maureen Dowd; Because the Night Belongs to Her

In an era when many women resist aging, preferring to frantically pursue scary, puffy replicas of their 25-year-old selves, and at a time when women still struggle to balance sexuality and power, the 63-year-old Smith radiated magic.

That’s it til next time. All of us at Gray Panthers wish you a happy new year, safe journey and full speed ahead into 2011.

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This is a 2-page “Scribd” document, which you’ve seen before and will again at our website. I want to make sure you’re getting all you can out of this technology so will point to a couple features.  At the far right, beneath “share” is a thin scrollbar; roll that downward to see the entire Grey Panthers newsletter, including the invitation, we really don’t want you to miss that.

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Raising eyebrows around the state today, Texans calling for higher taxes to prevent cuts for the old, disabled, mentally ill and children at risk of abuse. “A lot of us are going to end up dead,” said one disability activist, referring to budget cuts targeting social services for needy Texans.

The state is already ranked in the lowest percentile on Health and Human Services spending in the nation, with a history of cutting these paltry expenditures whenever the budget is tight.