Today's Letter pays homage to one of the great leaders of our time, Frances Perkins. She was the force behind The Social Security Act, passed on this day in 1935. The Act not only made payments to seniors, it also '...established unemployment insurance; aid to homeless, dependent, and neglected children; funds to promote maternal and child welfare; and public health services. It was a sweeping reworking of the relationship of the government to its citizens, using the power of taxation to pool funds to provide a basic social safety net.' (Letter)
Another American woman has been playing a crucial role in providing health care insurance for millions who had been excluded. She is also clawing back the social net, which was pulled away from the American people starting with Reaganomics in the 1980s.
That woman is Madame Speaker of the House, our House, and her name is Nancy Pelosi.
In her book 'Madam Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, And The Lessons of Power', Susan Page '... approaches the speaker as a study in power. The result is a biography... 'with her as a history-changing force — it’s a kind of Great Woman biography in the style usually reserved for great men.'
“They keep underestimating this f---ing broad,” former California congressman John Burton tells Page, an insight that repeats itself through Pelosi’s life. “They didn’t get how godd--- tough she would be.”
With reference to the Affordable Care Act, ' She was reportedly the one who suggested using the reconciliation process to amend the bill and make important changes. And when Obama’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, pushed for a radically scaled-back bill perhaps focused on covering children first, Pelosi responded with what Page calls “an extraordinary demonstration of political hardball”: She told Obama it was either the comprehensive bill or nothing. He could go big or go home.' Page titles her chapter about the Affordable Care Act '... “PelosiCare,” since the speaker was the most significant force pushing President Barack Obama’s White House to fulfill its health-care promises.' (Washington Post, Book Review)
Pelosi has been pivotal in the attempts to win back the people's safety net.
'Senate Passes $3.5 Trillion Budget Plan, Advancing Safety Net Expansion'
'The blueprint, which would expand health care, provide free preschool and community college, and fund climate change programs, passed along party lines and faces an arduous path ahead.
enacting a vast expansion of the nation’s social safety net, approving a $3.5 trillion budget blueprint along party lines that would allow Democrats to tackle climate change and fund health care, child care, family leave and public education expansion.'
'Much of that spending would be paid for with higher taxes on wealthy people and corporations.'
'Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California has just a three-vote margin in the House, and a half dozen moderates are considering whether to oppose the blueprint unless they get a scheduled vote on the Senate-passed infrastructure bill — to claim a quick victory and a White House bill-signing ceremony.'
'Ms. Pelosi told House Democrats on Wednesday in a private call that she would not take up the bill before the Senate passed the second, larger package.'
“I am not freelancing — this is the consensus,” Ms. Pelosi told Democrats, according to two people familiar with the discussion, who disclosed the comments on the condition of anonymity. “The votes in the House and Senate depend on us having both bills.”
There she is, our Nancy. She has done well for the American people, and she is not stopping. I thought on this day honoring Frances Perkins, we might also give a cheer to Madame Speaker, Nancy Pelosi.
Thanks, Fern. Will order this book today. And thanks for reminding us there are powerful women today, like Frances Perkins, who are standing tall against those who would push us down.
Gotta read this book. Maybe it'll relieve me of my fury at the right-on white male "progressives" who thought one of their number would make a better Speaker. Or maybe it'll just make it worse.
Just like the Critical Race Theory, American history classes DO need to include women's historical contributions, like Frances Perkins. And actually, as a woman, I feel that contributions by ALL previously marginalized Americans should be taught. Because the truth is and always has been that behind every successful white man in our entire history, there were always women and minorities. We just haven't been taught that.
Sometimes I observe that a white man’s philosophy is to judge the worst in people whether right or wrong. A woman’s philosophy observes that we are all in this together.
May I ask a favor? It has nothing to do w/today’s essay & Dr Richardson I apologize for this but I am hoping it will be okay.
I had my Moderna booster Sat (no spleen) & am feeling quite rough. Could someone please send me positive thots? You don’t have to write it here - I don’t want to interrupt this lovely essay. Temp is 102.4 x 8 hours, every joint aches, & so on (like a flu shot x 100). I believe positive thots & well wishes can help.
I do not regret getting the shot & would do it again. So please no lectures on vaccines. Night time exacerbates feeling alone. My cat is trying to help but I thot I would ask. I went through this w/shot 2 but to a lesser extent so I know I’ll get thru it. Just feeling quite rough.
My temp is now 101.8! And I feel like 30 miles of bad road instead of 50. You all are wonderful & I will cry happy tears when the aches fade away. Many, many thanks! 🙏🙏Going to try & sleep a bit.
Hey all. I’m still among the living. Temp is now 100. Yay! Now the predominant issues are the joint & muscle pain & a whopping headache. Keep swapping out ice packs, sipping ginger tea & napping as possible.
I will respond to each of you when my energy comes back so until then please know I am so very moved and appreciative of all the support & encouragement!! So very.
Tucker >^..^< says hi & thank you too for caring about his human.
You all are incredible. Just knowing there are people who care & who wish me well just undoes me - in a good way!
Speaking for myself, I would not expect someone who is not feeling well, to put it mildly, to answer 100 responses! Just glad that your temp is coming down and to see the community response of well wishes!
As soon the messages came rolling in I realized I may not be able to respond to each. Please know that I so very much appreciate all the positive thoughts, well wishes & helpful advice sent my way.
My temp is now 99.7 which isn’t too far from my baseline of 97.3. While it will be a few days before I catch up on sound sleep & feel 100% I am so much better. My thanks to you all.
Hi all. It’s Monday a.m. & the worst of it has passed. My temp is normal now. Still wiped out but a few days of good food & sleep should take care of that.
I appreciate beyond measure all the kindness shown to me when I was feeling poorly & alone in those moments.
My thanks to Dr Richardson for allowing this exchange.
Katsumii, having such a strong reaction to your booster is a GOOD thing. I know it's tough now, but it means your immune system still remembers the lesson it learned and had reinforced from your first two shots. No COVID virus will stand a chance against your B and T cells! All will be well my brave friend.
Hope you continue to lose the miles of bad road! I know your cat will do his/her best to help! I send my thoughts & prayers along with everyone else here.
Stay hydrated brother, very important. If the fever hasn't broken by morning, I would get medical advice. There should be a consult phone number on the Moderna paperwork that came with your shot. If not, your doctor's on call service or the local hospital operator should be able to connect you to whatever triage nurse they have. A 102° + is dangerous in adults. Don't tough it out by yourself, and you are in my prayers right now.
Kasmuli I had a response like this to the vaccine: if it helps you should remember that this is a sign of strong immunity—the vaccine worked vigorously in you!
My best anti-nausea trick is ginger, especially tincture of ginger mixed in a shot of cold water. Any drugstore or health good store should have it. Magic!
Hi Kasumii. It has been 7 hours since we heard from you. We continue to look your way full of affection and wishes for your comfort. Please post when you're ready to provide an update. Your Forum fans
I had a tough time with my 2nd Moderna shot; it was an intense anti-inflammatory reaction. It's all been said, stay hydrated, electrolyte replacement via Gatorade or Pedialyte, and kitty love. I waited 24 hours (well, 23 hours 56 minutes) before taking a couple ibuprofen which knocked my aches away quickly.
As you can tell, this LFAA community has become a Community as well, where we (in the best Francis Perkins tradition) do what we can to make others better, even if it is just keyboard help.
My cats (Artimis and Apollo) have purred and chirped, and sent kitty vibes to your girl so she has extra energy to help you.
You are strong to have reached out to the community for support though it seemed off topic to you. I love that we all have this group to hold us up when we need holding. I am sending you cooling thoughts and warming prayers and a head bump for your cat.
Hang in there, Kasumii. You have the strength of the angels embracing you from on high. Remember, we need you and YOU are the only you we have here. Keep your cat close, as he/she is your grounding spirit. Mine is right here with me while I write these words!
A friend of mine who is an infectious disease scientist, who specializes in coronaviruses and is often quoted by Pulitzer Prize winner Ed Yong in his coverage of the pandemic, has this to say about the Moderna booster:
FDA authorizing third shots for the immunocompromised. Both Pfizer and Moderna authorized, but I think it may be worth prioritizing Moderna. A number of studies show that it is better at getting low responders over the line—I think this is likely due to the higher dose
Dr. Fauci said this morning it is probably due to Moderna''s higher dose, but what is most important is that if you are immunocompromised, get whatever COVID-19 vaccine booster you can.
Kasumii, sending you strength and healing for a better tomorrow! Cats are the best healing channels of goodness and love. My Dulcinea is purring for your well being.
I hope the nausea has leveled out now, and that you are feeling better. Big hugs from me, and warm purrs from Pidgeon. If you haven't taken any analgesic yet, please do so if you can hold it down; there's no need for you to be hurting. Take care!
I'm 87 and the second Moderna vaccination was tough. Took 2 extra strength Tylenol and that made a big difference. Nap and you'll fee much better tomorrow and if you don't feel better contact CDC or better your doctor.
Hi Kasumii and Hi to your cat. It is good that you had the booster. It takes time for the effects to wear off, so please don't be worry. I hope that you can sleep and are drinking water. If you don't feel better or if you are worse tomorrow, it may be a good idea to call your doctor, a friend or 911. My thoughts are with you all day and tomorrow. I would like to connect you again in a while, and please contact me if you would like some company. With warm thoughts and good cheer.
Best wishes for a swift recovery. I’m on vacation in northern Michigan, and plan to get my booster tomorrow morning on our way home. I am ecstatic to have the chance to maybe feel a tad less vulnerable.
Here in Northern Michigan we have lots of locations to get the booster! And terrific weather, beautiful beaches, The Dunes, superb restaurants, wine tasting, fresh peaches, ... a little off topic.
Kasumii, sending good, strong, healing thoughts to you and your kitty too! I am sure that s/he is doing a great job of being a kitty carer! We know: this has been a tough week even without the booster shot! I am expecting I will have to have one too.
Frances Perkins - one of the true Greats of America.
One other thing to know is that the original Social Security Act excluded jobs primarily filled by people of color - that was how it got through a congress dominated by Senate and House committee chairmen (lords of their fiefs) all from the "Solid South." But it was a law. Which meant it existed, it could be amended and expanded. And it was - it took all the way to 1968 before we had a Social Security system that we would recognize now.
Which is the same thing that is happening to the Affordable Care Act. The new 3.5T budget bill has expansion of support for people to get health insurance, it expands Medicare to include dental, hearing and vision, etc.
That's how political progress gets made - not by miles but by millimeters.
Everyone needs to remember that a law can be amended (i.e., improved), and as the Texas Democrats pointed out on voter rights, "We don't need the whole thing, we need just an inch." Thanks TC.
When I lived in Illinois, teachers (mostly women in the profession) could not participate in both Social Security and the Teachers Retirement Program, so almost all were ineligible if born before a certain age, which I can't recall. Illinois, it turns out, didn't fully fund its teachers retirement program but instead paid based on annual appropriations from state legislature. A lot of teachers got caught in the doughnut hole and citizens of Illinois wanted retirees to take a voluntary cut to make up for the programs pending insolvency. Seems like it was around 1968 or 1970 when faculty at the U of I were excited about dual coverage as a possibility or fearful because the believed insecurity of the Social Security program.
During a number of years working in business positions, I paid enough SS taxes to qualify for SS benefits. However, when I retired from teaching in California with an early pension plan, my SS benefits were cut 40%. I was told at the time that some states do not make that deduction. When I soon moved back to my hometown in Tennessee, the deduction was still made, so I began teaching at the local Community College to make ends meet. I did that for ten years before I had to retire due to a stroke. I am doing fine now, thankfully.
Thanks HCR for taking time from your weekend--and I know probably only about a week before your uni term begins--to talk about Frances Perkins, one of the unsung people who designed the programs for which FDR took credit. One of my grad students, over a decade ago, wrote a MA thesis on her. She corralled Eleanor Roosevelt effectively to convince all those white boyz to support her ideas and she knew that she had to make her own compromises to get it done. Her vision was far more expansive than the original SSA but she knew that if she demanded perfection the good would never come to fruition. So she accepted the inevitable domination of white patriarchy over everyone in order to drive the first wedge into their mastery.
Oh how I wish that some of our young and brilliant-but-overly-rigidly-idealist congresspeople would read this and think about their stance. The whole "holding my breath until I turn blue" routine is not helpful.
Linda, Our young and brilliant force of elected representatives in the House, which women predominate, provide the insights grown out of of their backgrounds, communities and knowledge of 'others'. Are they rigid? They are expanding the reach of our government and the are targets of the much more 'moderate', the Republicans the far-right and men, too.
'The Squad':
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, NY-14
Ilhan Omar, MN-5
Ayanna Pressley, MA-7
Rashida Tlaib, MI-13
Jamaal Bowman, NY-16
Cori Bush, MO-1
'The Squad is a group of six Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives. It was initially composed of four women elected in the 2018 United States House of Representatives elections: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan. They have since been joined by Jamaal Bowman of New York and Cori Bush of Missouri following the 2020 United States House of Representatives elections. The group is well known for being among the most progressive and left-wing members of the United States Congress.'
'All are under the age of 50, have been supported by the Justice Democrats political action committee,...'. All except Omar and Tlaib were initially elected to Congress after unseating incumbents in primary challenges. All represent safe seats with Cook Partisan Voting Index scores of at least D+20.
The group has been said to represent the demographic diversity of a younger political generation and the advocacy of progressive policies such as Medicare for All and the Green New Deal, which have sometimes clashed with their party's leadership. Ocasio-Cortez coined the "Squad" name in an Instagram post a week after the 2018 election.'
'The colloquial use of the word "squad" arose from East Coast hip hop culture and describes "a self-chosen group of people that you want to identify with". Its use by Ocasio-Cortez signaled familiarity with millennial slang as a playful reference to youth social cliques. Ocasio-Cortez's home borough of The Bronx was the origin of hip hop. Musical acts with "Squad" in their name and lyrics existed from the 1990s to the present.'
'The New York Times considers the Squad to be sui generis, not fitting neatly into the usual types of congressional groups:...' (Wikipedia)
Is 'not fitting neatly into the usual types of congressional groups' a bad thing? The squad have been challenging to the House as they work with Nancy Pelosi and bring more voices of the American people to our government. Cheer them on, they are us.
As a soon to be 82 year old (I’ve lived too long to like the condescending “young”; I’m not at all ashamed of my glorious age!), I am excited about the energy and intelligence of the Squad; AOC is a joy to watch when she’s making people squirm under her expert questioning. The Republicans, who seem to be prime targets, are scared of her. Long may her (and the others) terms last as she (they) fight(s)for our rights. I get angry when I hear Republican politicians refer to Social Security as a gift of sorts when we have paid for that insurance from every paycheck. Oh that the congress had the same “benefits”!! Until that happens, SS will always have low COL increases and be near the cliff, ready to be pushed over. Am I wrong in saying the Republicans are doing the pushing?
Thank you! And how right you are! I hear few Dems standing their ground as Republican politicians and commentators claim victory to be theirs in upcoming election. While I don’t want Dems to sink to the cheating and spreading of misinformation as Reps are doing, I do want them to stand boldly and affirm the fights they are doing to improve the lives of Americans and to save our country from despotism. They and the NDC need to grow backbones and we the people need to be vocally supportive, too....beyond HCR’s informative newsletter. It also helps to send postcards to congress people of both parties since they are all supposed to working for us!
Last I looked, it was Sens. Manchin and Sinema who were holding their breath waiting for the rest of us to turn blue. The "inevitable domination of white patriarchy" was personified by the white Southern Democrats, the product of generations of Jim Crow and anti-Reconstruction politics. That's why the New Deal did so little for people of color. That's why the wealth gap exists to this day between African Americans and other people of color, on one hand, and, on the other, the children and grandchildren of white USians who were able to benefit from the GI Bill and the redlining that limited the options of people of color. Try thinking of the actions of the congressional progressives, especially those of color, as a survival strategy. Because if they don't hold their ground, they're going to get steamrollered the way people of color were by the New Deal and by the "government is the problem" ideology of the Reagan administration, which sustains the GOP to this day and all too many white Democrats.
And the first (not kidding) thing I thought when I heard about Cori Bush's sit-in is "This would not be happening if 99% of Congress thought that eviction only happened to other people -- and knew a lot more landlords than they did tenants."
Thank you, Linda. I was composing in my mind something similar to your last paragraph until I read it, and realized that you'd articulated it better than I would have.
OMG, I thought about you and your parents just last week. My number is on line - Lilburn. Call when you have time. I don't like to put my email address out here. How are you doing?
Talk about a small world. I have an appointment around Noon on Wednesday, same on Thursday, otherwise at home. We need to catch up, so looking forward to that!
Young ppl don’t seem to realize that they are living thru history, but when you get to three-fourths of a century, you can see it. I was born a day after FDR won his 4th term as president in 1944. He was possibly the greatest president of my lifetime and the absolute worst president ever ruined my 72nd birthday in 2016.
My parents went thru the Great Depression and were often hungry. I remember after my grandfather in MS died at 64 in 1960, my grandmother was soon surviving on his Social Security benefits. In 2009 at age 65, I was invited to the local Social Security office to discuss my benefits, having reached the minimum age to retire. I was working an office job and planned to continue working until I turned 70, but the worker noticed that I was eligible for my deceased wife’s benefits while still working since we were married for over 10 years. (Something to consider for all those ppl who live as partners and say, “marriage is just a piece of paper.” Also, it shows the financial unfairness to all those long-term gay couples before their marriages were made legal). So, I continued working while my SS benefits increased, and getting a supplement income from my wife’s SS payments.
Now I am surviving on my social security payments (on which I still pay income tax) and some savings from an inheritance. At about $1500 a month, it barely covers my monthly expenses (rent alone is $1K) but, without it I would still be dragging my weary self into some job every day despite not being up to it, and at minimum wage would be making only $1200 a month. I would probably have to give up Internet & TV and wouldn’t even get to see Bezos’ billion dollar joy ride to the edge of space.
I agree that $1500 a month SS is not quite making the ends meet if you are paying housing expenses, whether mortgages, upkeep, or rent. I wish the COL "raises" each year were based on the cost of food and medical expenses rather than the price of a few rather stable items. I have given up TV! (But not wi-fi). Wait! Did I hear someone say well why didn't you pay into a retirement plan, too? I did, only to lose 42% during 2008 depression, the year I retired. The rest is long gone on Medicare supplemental insurance, dental insurance and Co-Pays.
We are determined to make life better. It is good you are here and hopefully with passage of the $3.4 trillion or something close enough, second stimulus package, your budget will be less heavy. Salud!
I'm glad you mentioned the 2008 "depression". I call it the 2008 bailout scam. (See "Inside Job" documentary.) Every time I read or think of it, I'm reminded of the whole setup again. Matt Taibbi's book "Griftopia" is the explanation of how it was done. No one in the Wall Street Banker group went to jail, if they went to trial at all. We were scr**ed beyond the beyond. Goldman Sachs was overleveraged 330 times the amount of capital they actually had on hand. During the bailout, they were paid by the U.S. government the entire amount of the overleverage. It's so insulting what the crooks have done to the American people. I have to stop. Time to rest and sleep.
Would it be such a great loss to miss those boys playing with their toy spaceships? Although, I would definitely miss being able to make fun of them on YouTube, Twitter, and here!
As someone observed on FB (and paraphrased here), it seems men go into politics more often for fame and fortune and women do so to get something done. From anecdotal experience, the intent to get something done sure can upset and draw the ire of the “old boys network” 🤣
Yes, obviously there are always exceptions. Another “generalized observation”, these women who “go rogue” don’t seem to garner much power or are short-term, i.e. they don’t last long enough to do much damage. 😆
It's all political theatre these days. I agree no lasting impact. I think we need a new performance metric for Congresscritters. I suggest an 'index of obnoxiousness'. On a scale of 0 to 10, using Louis Gohmert as a '5', where would rank the rest?
Loeffler and Taylor-Greene each get a 50 on your scale, and a 100 on a 10 scale of corruption. I saw Loeffler debate Rev. Warnock, and she gave the same coached robotic answer to every question -- an insipid attack on 'socialist Warnock.' Not a single independent thought, or answered question.
Thank you Prof Richardson! I am a social worker, and a recipient of social security which I paid into since age 16 and am forever grateful to receive as my own best laid financial plans have not left me w a lot of squiggle room, but the basics of my life are paid for by my Social Security Ck each month!
I am also a voter who tries to understand the issues before I make decisions about my votes. Your efforts have and continue to expand my understanding of often complex issues. I am forever grateful you continue to write to all of us, for our votes will count toward keeping our country strong and safe for all of us in months & years to come.
I’m reminded of Rosalie Sorrels reading the chapter "Social Security" from her mother Nancy Stringfellow's memoir, "Report from Grimes Creek after a Hard Winter" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kscfpOq60Ws
It was so powerful when I first heard her read it a number of years ago; now even more so as I rely on that monthly check myself.
A client, fairly well heeled, screamed her indignation at the possibility of socialism. I asked her what she thought about Social Security and Medicare. Falling deeply into my trap (heh heh), she said she liked both of those things in her life. I told her that was basically Socialism to which she looked like a deer in the headlights and had no response. Conversation ended.
Perfect - Elaine!!!! And that fact needs to be HAMMERED on all main stream media by who? Democrats, maybe? These representatives (of US, the voters) need to open their mouths & use these press platforms to make this point. Why the heck arent they? It seems they only speak to the press to defend themselves from Repubs. Always DEfence!
Social security is not socialism. It is an integral part of a government run, secure social safety net that a market economy needs for society to function for every citizen. That word is incorrectly used as a pejorative to attack Democrats when in fact it doesn't exist in this country. And no one supports it from either party.
Perfect! When I told my R brother the same thing, he said, Yes but we don't want any more. To this I replied, It's a matter of balance. As the world changes and the U.S gets richer and richer, we are more & more able to take care of those who can't take care of themselves (SS and Medicare). With our increasing wealth we can now afford to educate our kids so they contribute to a better society for everyone. The same applies to providing healthcare for the needy. Healthy people will work and contribute to society. Etc., etc. Although I'm trying to get him to admit that the world is changing, therefore role of government must change too, he's dug in. I don't seem to making any headway. But I let him know that I'm not backing down or buying his R objections. We must persist!
My approach is to talk about how universal healthcare relieves the burden on companies to pay for health insurance (which every year is a crap shoot in negotiations with Blue Cross et al, much less unions). Businesses can do the business of business instead, and save on ever rising and unpredictable healthcare cosrs. Win/Win.
Thanks you for this wonderful history lesson. Mt Holyoke has a program called "the Frances Perkins Program" for women returning to college to complete their undergraduate degree after a break. It is meant to empower women to be leaders like Frances Perkins. Although I am not a "Perkins scholar", I did return to complete my undergraduate degree at Smith College as an "Ada Comstock Scholar". The "Ada" program is very like the Frances Perkins program. Empowering women to be the leaders needed in this country is more important than ever. WE can make a difference!
Perkins is an unsung hero. If you have not read the fabulous book about her, you really should. Here is a simple link to help: https://francesperkinscenter.org/life-new/
To call her the architect of social “support” in the 20th century would be selling her short. Her vision is essentially what our friends on the right are trying to dismantle, basically…if you give FDR all the credit, or blame, you need to know this brilliant human. Oh, and SHE deserves a postage stamp…:)
Thank you for this! "In 1944, a piece portraying Frances Perkins in Collier’s magazine described her accomplishments over the previous twelve years as “not so much the Roosevelt New Deal, as … the Perkins New Deal.” She had accomplished all but one of the items on the agenda she had presented to the newly elected President in February of 1933: universal access to health care." Oh, if only Roosrvelt had lived long enough for Frances Perkins to establish universal access to healthcare. What a wonderful world it would have been, still can be!
Thank you, Dr. Heather, for another history lesson that amazes me because of what I don't recall learning about. I feel that I have gotten way more than my money's worth from my subscription to your Letters, not only for these extremely interesting history lessons but also from the community you have built here, as I have also learned from others' comments.
This amazing letter should be sent to Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Kristen Sinema and all other woman Senators as inspiration to take up the torch for social responsibility. Women somehow get it more than men when it comes to knowing how we all need to bond with each other to create social stability and community support. The lessons of Francis Perkins’ life and her accomplishments might be inspiring to those women in the Senate who currently hold power and have the power to transform the Senate to make Biden’s social agendas reality. I think McConnell is counting on the Democrats to implode over these two bills. Just a few Senate women can come together in the name of Francis Perkins and prove him wrong! How inspiring this letter is and full of the kind of hope we desperately need right now! Then onward to voting rights!
Great idea, Ned! And how about we send it to all the (Dem)(not crazy) women in the House, too! Along with a capsule biography of Dr Richardson, for any who have managed to remain ignorant of her. How do we do it? I wonder if in this community we have members from every state and all or most Congressional districts? So many Senators and Reps accept calls and emails only from their own constituents. I read somewhere that snail mail to Washington lawmakers is so heavily screened these days (for white powder, etc.) that there are long delays.
“The expected transition to a Taliban-led administration in the coming days has sparked fears over the level of rights and freedoms to be granted women.
Last month, fighters from the group walked into the offices of Azizi Bank in the southern city of Kandahar and ordered nine women working there to leave, explaining that male relatives could take their place.
Speaking live on the BBC, Taliban Spokesman Suhail Shaheen said women “will have access to education and work” and leave their homes without male accompaniment.
However, a number of “horror stories” have emerged from areas that have fallen to Taliban insurgents in recent days.
The Guardian’s Women report Afghanistan project features a number of women describing their fears that the freedoms won since 2001 will be crushed.”
Thanks for this great tribute to Frances Perkins. Can’t resist mentioning that in the movie Dirty Dancing Baby tells Johnny that her real name is Frances, “after the first woman in the Cabinet.”
Thanks, Reva. I don't remember Baby saying that in the movie, which was one of my all-time favourites! Also, thank you Dr. Richardson for this interesting letter which raised my spirits after all the sad news of Saturday. I certainly hope your quote: "safe forever, and for the everlasting benefit of the people of the United States" will remain true!
Frances attended Mt Holyoke. A favorite line from Dirty Dancing : “nobody puts Baby in the corner” because “Baby’s starting Mount Holyoke in the fall”!
The idea of “rugged individualism” is bs promoted by politicians to justify not doing a damn thing to address our society’s problems. There are so many problems that require group action to solve. John Donne, 400 years ago, said “No man is an island. . .”
Today's Letter pays homage to one of the great leaders of our time, Frances Perkins. She was the force behind The Social Security Act, passed on this day in 1935. The Act not only made payments to seniors, it also '...established unemployment insurance; aid to homeless, dependent, and neglected children; funds to promote maternal and child welfare; and public health services. It was a sweeping reworking of the relationship of the government to its citizens, using the power of taxation to pool funds to provide a basic social safety net.' (Letter)
Another American woman has been playing a crucial role in providing health care insurance for millions who had been excluded. She is also clawing back the social net, which was pulled away from the American people starting with Reaganomics in the 1980s.
That woman is Madame Speaker of the House, our House, and her name is Nancy Pelosi.
In her book 'Madam Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, And The Lessons of Power', Susan Page '... approaches the speaker as a study in power. The result is a biography... 'with her as a history-changing force — it’s a kind of Great Woman biography in the style usually reserved for great men.'
“They keep underestimating this f---ing broad,” former California congressman John Burton tells Page, an insight that repeats itself through Pelosi’s life. “They didn’t get how godd--- tough she would be.”
With reference to the Affordable Care Act, ' She was reportedly the one who suggested using the reconciliation process to amend the bill and make important changes. And when Obama’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, pushed for a radically scaled-back bill perhaps focused on covering children first, Pelosi responded with what Page calls “an extraordinary demonstration of political hardball”: She told Obama it was either the comprehensive bill or nothing. He could go big or go home.' Page titles her chapter about the Affordable Care Act '... “PelosiCare,” since the speaker was the most significant force pushing President Barack Obama’s White House to fulfill its health-care promises.' (Washington Post, Book Review)
Pelosi has been pivotal in the attempts to win back the people's safety net.
'Senate Passes $3.5 Trillion Budget Plan, Advancing Safety Net Expansion'
'The blueprint, which would expand health care, provide free preschool and community college, and fund climate change programs, passed along party lines and faces an arduous path ahead.
enacting a vast expansion of the nation’s social safety net, approving a $3.5 trillion budget blueprint along party lines that would allow Democrats to tackle climate change and fund health care, child care, family leave and public education expansion.'
'Much of that spending would be paid for with higher taxes on wealthy people and corporations.'
'Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California has just a three-vote margin in the House, and a half dozen moderates are considering whether to oppose the blueprint unless they get a scheduled vote on the Senate-passed infrastructure bill — to claim a quick victory and a White House bill-signing ceremony.'
'Ms. Pelosi told House Democrats on Wednesday in a private call that she would not take up the bill before the Senate passed the second, larger package.'
“I am not freelancing — this is the consensus,” Ms. Pelosi told Democrats, according to two people familiar with the discussion, who disclosed the comments on the condition of anonymity. “The votes in the House and Senate depend on us having both bills.”
There she is, our Nancy. She has done well for the American people, and she is not stopping. I thought on this day honoring Frances Perkins, we might also give a cheer to Madame Speaker, Nancy Pelosi.
Book review link below:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/nancy-pelosi-a-study-in-power/2021/04/20/189482a0-9ed1-11eb-8005-bffc3a39f6d3_story.html
May we all be F***ing Broads in our lives. Thanks Fern!
Thank you, Fern. This is a great add-on to today's Letter.
Thank you, Becky. I was looking for an opportunity to have Nancy on the Forum.
We don't want her retiring just yet!
Thank you. Based your review, I’ve requested this book from the public library , which is another invaluable public resource.
Joan, the book review was by the writer with the Washington Post, but I take full responsibility for my comment. Happy Sunday!
Thanks, Fern. Will order this book today. And thanks for reminding us there are powerful women today, like Frances Perkins, who are standing tall against those who would push us down.
May Kamala stay strong.
Nancy Pelosi represents us very well. As did Frances in crafting a social net that made it into law. Thank you, Fern.
Thank you Fern, and that's the reason that republicans hate her, while every sane American should be thankful for her grit and wisdom.
Exactly Nancy! 💯
Thank you, Fern. Eye opening and heart warming
If only we all had one of 'em. We all could do with one over here and nary a one in sight! Thanks Fern for bringing up the best of examples.
Are you talking Pelosi's or margaritas Stuart?!
Cheers, MaryPat! Rather i was talking about the on-going drought...of leadership male or female.
I can drink to that!
Thank you Fern for giving a big hurrah for Nancy Pelosi! She is stunning and strong and determined!
Next up on my reading list. Thanks Fern! Pelosi is a force of nature.
in very high heels!
Thank you, Fern, for the recap (helps to cement The Letter better in my overwhelmed brain), and the modern version in Nancy Pelodi. CHEERS!!
I'd love one of those Margaritas, MaryPat, please.
😄
That's very nice but not what I requested!!
Gotta read this book. Maybe it'll relieve me of my fury at the right-on white male "progressives" who thought one of their number would make a better Speaker. Or maybe it'll just make it worse.
Ty Fern!
Thank you, Fern, I will read this book, as well.
Our Nancy, goddess tough - thank you, Fern!!
Great post. I’ll buy the book.thanks! D
Just like the Critical Race Theory, American history classes DO need to include women's historical contributions, like Frances Perkins. And actually, as a woman, I feel that contributions by ALL previously marginalized Americans should be taught. Because the truth is and always has been that behind every successful white man in our entire history, there were always women and minorities. We just haven't been taught that.
We are taught his/story. Her/story is much more interesting.
Yes, and along with Their/story, His/story and Her/story become completely mesmerizing!
Our/story.
!!!!!
Sometimes I observe that a white man’s philosophy is to judge the worst in people whether right or wrong. A woman’s philosophy observes that we are all in this together.
Yes. And that there is enough to go around.
Totally agree!!
May I ask a favor? It has nothing to do w/today’s essay & Dr Richardson I apologize for this but I am hoping it will be okay.
I had my Moderna booster Sat (no spleen) & am feeling quite rough. Could someone please send me positive thots? You don’t have to write it here - I don’t want to interrupt this lovely essay. Temp is 102.4 x 8 hours, every joint aches, & so on (like a flu shot x 100). I believe positive thots & well wishes can help.
I do not regret getting the shot & would do it again. So please no lectures on vaccines. Night time exacerbates feeling alone. My cat is trying to help but I thot I would ask. I went through this w/shot 2 but to a lesser extent so I know I’ll get thru it. Just feeling quite rough.
Thank you kindly.
My temp is now 101.8! And I feel like 30 miles of bad road instead of 50. You all are wonderful & I will cry happy tears when the aches fade away. Many, many thanks! 🙏🙏Going to try & sleep a bit.
Hey all. I’m still among the living. Temp is now 100. Yay! Now the predominant issues are the joint & muscle pain & a whopping headache. Keep swapping out ice packs, sipping ginger tea & napping as possible.
I will respond to each of you when my energy comes back so until then please know I am so very moved and appreciative of all the support & encouragement!! So very.
Tucker >^..^< says hi & thank you too for caring about his human.
You all are incredible. Just knowing there are people who care & who wish me well just undoes me - in a good way!
Thank you all.
This RN is recommending acetaminophen for you. Your immune system is doing a terrific job, so not to worry.
Speaking for myself, I would not expect someone who is not feeling well, to put it mildly, to answer 100 responses! Just glad that your temp is coming down and to see the community response of well wishes!
As soon the messages came rolling in I realized I may not be able to respond to each. Please know that I so very much appreciate all the positive thoughts, well wishes & helpful advice sent my way.
My temp is now 99.7 which isn’t too far from my baseline of 97.3. While it will be a few days before I catch up on sound sleep & feel 100% I am so much better. My thanks to you all.
Hi all. It’s Monday a.m. & the worst of it has passed. My temp is normal now. Still wiped out but a few days of good food & sleep should take care of that.
I appreciate beyond measure all the kindness shown to me when I was feeling poorly & alone in those moments.
My thanks to Dr Richardson for allowing this exchange.
and if you're interested, there's another level of community with this group of HCR Substackers. For more info, you can email:
heathersherd@gmail.com
Thanks for the update, Kasumii — you and Tucker are in a lot of thoughts/prayers now.
keep us posted please....
Katsumii, having such a strong reaction to your booster is a GOOD thing. I know it's tough now, but it means your immune system still remembers the lesson it learned and had reinforced from your first two shots. No COVID virus will stand a chance against your B and T cells! All will be well my brave friend.
I hope you awake refreshed and on the mend. I have no cat but the lab sitting on my foot brings me such warmth! Let us know how you’re faring.
I hope you are feeling better and that will continue, Kasumii.
Sending good thoughts and my cats, Hector and Lucy, are sending kitty purrs your way too.
Hope you continue to lose the miles of bad road! I know your cat will do his/her best to help! I send my thoughts & prayers along with everyone else here.
Irma and Bogan send their best purrs. They're assuring that the bad road's end is in sight.
Stay hydrated brother, very important. If the fever hasn't broken by morning, I would get medical advice. There should be a consult phone number on the Moderna paperwork that came with your shot. If not, your doctor's on call service or the local hospital operator should be able to connect you to whatever triage nurse they have. A 102° + is dangerous in adults. Don't tough it out by yourself, and you are in my prayers right now.
I’m sipping small amounts of water Gus. Don’t want to increase the nausea. Many thanks for your prayers.
Kasmuli I had a response like this to the vaccine: if it helps you should remember that this is a sign of strong immunity—the vaccine worked vigorously in you!
You could try Pedialyte or Gatorade. Replacing electrolytes is important. Maybe a friend could pick something up for you.
My black cat Licorice sends purrs! She’s so loud she keeps me up at night. And my enormous dog, Bella, sends a wet nose nudge! Be well my friend!
My best anti-nausea trick is ginger, especially tincture of ginger mixed in a shot of cold water. Any drugstore or health good store should have it. Magic!
Very cold water is most helpful with nausea. Sending cat cuddles.
Mary Baine recommended ginger but if you don’t have any, ginger ale is also good, preferably at room temperature and small sips.
Kasumi, my two cats are standing by as well.
😻😻a scritch between the ears for each.
Artemis and Apollo each got theirs just now. They said "Purrrr chirp chirp meow" Yours will probably have to translate.
Done!
😻
Hi Kasumii. It has been 7 hours since we heard from you. We continue to look your way full of affection and wishes for your comfort. Please post when you're ready to provide an update. Your Forum fans
I had a tough time with my 2nd Moderna shot; it was an intense anti-inflammatory reaction. It's all been said, stay hydrated, electrolyte replacement via Gatorade or Pedialyte, and kitty love. I waited 24 hours (well, 23 hours 56 minutes) before taking a couple ibuprofen which knocked my aches away quickly.
As you can tell, this LFAA community has become a Community as well, where we (in the best Francis Perkins tradition) do what we can to make others better, even if it is just keyboard help.
My cats (Artimis and Apollo) have purred and chirped, and sent kitty vibes to your girl so she has extra energy to help you.
My cat, called "Cat" because I wasn't going to keep him 13 years ago, sends purrs and nudges.
You are strong to have reached out to the community for support though it seemed off topic to you. I love that we all have this group to hold us up when we need holding. I am sending you cooling thoughts and warming prayers and a head bump for your cat.
Drink lots of water and juice during next couple days. Love on your cat. Sending love! Cool Breeze Blessings!
Hang in there, Kasumii. You have the strength of the angels embracing you from on high. Remember, we need you and YOU are the only you we have here. Keep your cat close, as he/she is your grounding spirit. Mine is right here with me while I write these words!
Thank you Lynell. He’s quite sweet & keeps giving me gentle head bumps on my forehead.
Awwwww!
A friend of mine who is an infectious disease scientist, who specializes in coronaviruses and is often quoted by Pulitzer Prize winner Ed Yong in his coverage of the pandemic, has this to say about the Moderna booster:
FDA authorizing third shots for the immunocompromised. Both Pfizer and Moderna authorized, but I think it may be worth prioritizing Moderna. A number of studies show that it is better at getting low responders over the line—I think this is likely due to the higher dose
Dr. Fauci said this morning it is probably due to Moderna''s higher dose, but what is most important is that if you are immunocompromised, get whatever COVID-19 vaccine booster you can.
Many thanks to all 🙏
Kasumii, sending you strength and healing for a better tomorrow! Cats are the best healing channels of goodness and love. My Dulcinea is purring for your well being.
I hope the nausea has leveled out now, and that you are feeling better. Big hugs from me, and warm purrs from Pidgeon. If you haven't taken any analgesic yet, please do so if you can hold it down; there's no need for you to be hurting. Take care!
My reaction to the second dose of Pfizer was real bad but I knew that meant it's working. I would have been worried if I hadn't had a reaction.
I'm 87 and the second Moderna vaccination was tough. Took 2 extra strength Tylenol and that made a big difference. Nap and you'll fee much better tomorrow and if you don't feel better contact CDC or better your doctor.
Sending good wishes, echoing Lynell's eloquent words for you.
🙏Thank you Ellie.
Hi Kasumii and Hi to your cat. It is good that you had the booster. It takes time for the effects to wear off, so please don't be worry. I hope that you can sleep and are drinking water. If you don't feel better or if you are worse tomorrow, it may be a good idea to call your doctor, a friend or 911. My thoughts are with you all day and tomorrow. I would like to connect you again in a while, and please contact me if you would like some company. With warm thoughts and good cheer.
Best wishes for a swift recovery. I’m on vacation in northern Michigan, and plan to get my booster tomorrow morning on our way home. I am ecstatic to have the chance to maybe feel a tad less vulnerable.
Here in Northern Michigan we have lots of locations to get the booster! And terrific weather, beautiful beaches, The Dunes, superb restaurants, wine tasting, fresh peaches, ... a little off topic.
Quite on topic for anyone who likes to think of terrific weather, beautiful beaches...!
I came home with loads and loads of blueberries! You’re lucky to live there. When we lived in Ann Arbor it was an easy trek but sadly not anymore.
Mmmmmm! Glad you got up here to play, though!
Kasumii, sending good, strong, healing thoughts to you and your kitty too! I am sure that s/he is doing a great job of being a kitty carer! We know: this has been a tough week even without the booster shot! I am expecting I will have to have one too.
Kashmir- I hope you are feeling better this morning! Sending healing thoughts.
Sorry Kasumi (auto correct!!!)
Kasumii, sending positive thoughts and gentle hugs your way. I'm so sorry you are having a rough time of it, my friend. Namaste.
Frances Perkins - one of the true Greats of America.
One other thing to know is that the original Social Security Act excluded jobs primarily filled by people of color - that was how it got through a congress dominated by Senate and House committee chairmen (lords of their fiefs) all from the "Solid South." But it was a law. Which meant it existed, it could be amended and expanded. And it was - it took all the way to 1968 before we had a Social Security system that we would recognize now.
Which is the same thing that is happening to the Affordable Care Act. The new 3.5T budget bill has expansion of support for people to get health insurance, it expands Medicare to include dental, hearing and vision, etc.
That's how political progress gets made - not by miles but by millimeters.
Expanding Medicare to include dental and hearing will count as miles - or at least kilometers - to many people.
It certainly does to me!!
Me, Too!
Amen!
Good on ya TC! Indeed that's the way it works.....as Bismark said" Politics is the art of the possible"
If I am right, women were not originally eligible for social security. Please correct me if I am wrong…save me having to Google the question.😜😜
Yes, you are right. Jobs women and POC filled were ineligible.
Women just had to die in a factory fire to protect white men in jobs? OMG.
Indeed. So what else is new? OSHA still doesn't really protect most female-dominant jobs in the service industries: child carers, hotel maids, etc.
Everyone needs to remember that a law can be amended (i.e., improved), and as the Texas Democrats pointed out on voter rights, "We don't need the whole thing, we need just an inch." Thanks TC.
When I lived in Illinois, teachers (mostly women in the profession) could not participate in both Social Security and the Teachers Retirement Program, so almost all were ineligible if born before a certain age, which I can't recall. Illinois, it turns out, didn't fully fund its teachers retirement program but instead paid based on annual appropriations from state legislature. A lot of teachers got caught in the doughnut hole and citizens of Illinois wanted retirees to take a voluntary cut to make up for the programs pending insolvency. Seems like it was around 1968 or 1970 when faculty at the U of I were excited about dual coverage as a possibility or fearful because the believed insecurity of the Social Security program.
During a number of years working in business positions, I paid enough SS taxes to qualify for SS benefits. However, when I retired from teaching in California with an early pension plan, my SS benefits were cut 40%. I was told at the time that some states do not make that deduction. When I soon moved back to my hometown in Tennessee, the deduction was still made, so I began teaching at the local Community College to make ends meet. I did that for ten years before I had to retire due to a stroke. I am doing fine now, thankfully.
Oh, the injustice. I am glad you are good with how it ended.
Thanks HCR for taking time from your weekend--and I know probably only about a week before your uni term begins--to talk about Frances Perkins, one of the unsung people who designed the programs for which FDR took credit. One of my grad students, over a decade ago, wrote a MA thesis on her. She corralled Eleanor Roosevelt effectively to convince all those white boyz to support her ideas and she knew that she had to make her own compromises to get it done. Her vision was far more expansive than the original SSA but she knew that if she demanded perfection the good would never come to fruition. So she accepted the inevitable domination of white patriarchy over everyone in order to drive the first wedge into their mastery.
Oh how I wish that some of our young and brilliant-but-overly-rigidly-idealist congresspeople would read this and think about their stance. The whole "holding my breath until I turn blue" routine is not helpful.
Linda, Our young and brilliant force of elected representatives in the House, which women predominate, provide the insights grown out of of their backgrounds, communities and knowledge of 'others'. Are they rigid? They are expanding the reach of our government and the are targets of the much more 'moderate', the Republicans the far-right and men, too.
'The Squad':
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, NY-14
Ilhan Omar, MN-5
Ayanna Pressley, MA-7
Rashida Tlaib, MI-13
Jamaal Bowman, NY-16
Cori Bush, MO-1
'The Squad is a group of six Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives. It was initially composed of four women elected in the 2018 United States House of Representatives elections: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan. They have since been joined by Jamaal Bowman of New York and Cori Bush of Missouri following the 2020 United States House of Representatives elections. The group is well known for being among the most progressive and left-wing members of the United States Congress.'
'All are under the age of 50, have been supported by the Justice Democrats political action committee,...'. All except Omar and Tlaib were initially elected to Congress after unseating incumbents in primary challenges. All represent safe seats with Cook Partisan Voting Index scores of at least D+20.
The group has been said to represent the demographic diversity of a younger political generation and the advocacy of progressive policies such as Medicare for All and the Green New Deal, which have sometimes clashed with their party's leadership. Ocasio-Cortez coined the "Squad" name in an Instagram post a week after the 2018 election.'
'The colloquial use of the word "squad" arose from East Coast hip hop culture and describes "a self-chosen group of people that you want to identify with". Its use by Ocasio-Cortez signaled familiarity with millennial slang as a playful reference to youth social cliques. Ocasio-Cortez's home borough of The Bronx was the origin of hip hop. Musical acts with "Squad" in their name and lyrics existed from the 1990s to the present.'
'The New York Times considers the Squad to be sui generis, not fitting neatly into the usual types of congressional groups:...' (Wikipedia)
Is 'not fitting neatly into the usual types of congressional groups' a bad thing? The squad have been challenging to the House as they work with Nancy Pelosi and bring more voices of the American people to our government. Cheer them on, they are us.
As a soon to be 82 year old (I’ve lived too long to like the condescending “young”; I’m not at all ashamed of my glorious age!), I am excited about the energy and intelligence of the Squad; AOC is a joy to watch when she’s making people squirm under her expert questioning. The Republicans, who seem to be prime targets, are scared of her. Long may her (and the others) terms last as she (they) fight(s)for our rights. I get angry when I hear Republican politicians refer to Social Security as a gift of sorts when we have paid for that insurance from every paycheck. Oh that the congress had the same “benefits”!! Until that happens, SS will always have low COL increases and be near the cliff, ready to be pushed over. Am I wrong in saying the Republicans are doing the pushing?
Plenty of Democrats need to stand up, too. Here is to your spirit Dula Beyer Baker, your wisdom and your well earned age! Cheers!
Thank you! And how right you are! I hear few Dems standing their ground as Republican politicians and commentators claim victory to be theirs in upcoming election. While I don’t want Dems to sink to the cheating and spreading of misinformation as Reps are doing, I do want them to stand boldly and affirm the fights they are doing to improve the lives of Americans and to save our country from despotism. They and the NDC need to grow backbones and we the people need to be vocally supportive, too....beyond HCR’s informative newsletter. It also helps to send postcards to congress people of both parties since they are all supposed to working for us!
And in politics, it is most helpful to have progressives nippimg at moderate tails, urging us all ever forward.
So well said. Hope the Progressive Caucus is reading this, or at least one of their staffers brings it to their attention.
Last I looked, it was Sens. Manchin and Sinema who were holding their breath waiting for the rest of us to turn blue. The "inevitable domination of white patriarchy" was personified by the white Southern Democrats, the product of generations of Jim Crow and anti-Reconstruction politics. That's why the New Deal did so little for people of color. That's why the wealth gap exists to this day between African Americans and other people of color, on one hand, and, on the other, the children and grandchildren of white USians who were able to benefit from the GI Bill and the redlining that limited the options of people of color. Try thinking of the actions of the congressional progressives, especially those of color, as a survival strategy. Because if they don't hold their ground, they're going to get steamrollered the way people of color were by the New Deal and by the "government is the problem" ideology of the Reagan administration, which sustains the GOP to this day and all too many white Democrats.
Hear here, on the steps of The Capitol--hear, hear Cori Bush's fight against the evictions of American folks!
http://richmondfreepress.com/news/2021/aug/05/missouri-congresswoman-cori-bush-eviction-fight-pe/
And the first (not kidding) thing I thought when I heard about Cori Bush's sit-in is "This would not be happening if 99% of Congress thought that eviction only happened to other people -- and knew a lot more landlords than they did tenants."
I cannot second this strongly enough.
Thank you, Linda. I was composing in my mind something similar to your last paragraph until I read it, and realized that you'd articulated it better than I would have.
Is this the Nancy Fleming that worked with my mother, Elinan J. Mesot, in Atlanta in the 1970’s?
OMG, I thought about you and your parents just last week. My number is on line - Lilburn. Call when you have time. I don't like to put my email address out here. How are you doing?
I am going to call you this week!!! ❤️ What a coincidence??!!
Talk about a small world. I have an appointment around Noon on Wednesday, same on Thursday, otherwise at home. We need to catch up, so looking forward to that!
LIVING HISTORY
Young ppl don’t seem to realize that they are living thru history, but when you get to three-fourths of a century, you can see it. I was born a day after FDR won his 4th term as president in 1944. He was possibly the greatest president of my lifetime and the absolute worst president ever ruined my 72nd birthday in 2016.
My parents went thru the Great Depression and were often hungry. I remember after my grandfather in MS died at 64 in 1960, my grandmother was soon surviving on his Social Security benefits. In 2009 at age 65, I was invited to the local Social Security office to discuss my benefits, having reached the minimum age to retire. I was working an office job and planned to continue working until I turned 70, but the worker noticed that I was eligible for my deceased wife’s benefits while still working since we were married for over 10 years. (Something to consider for all those ppl who live as partners and say, “marriage is just a piece of paper.” Also, it shows the financial unfairness to all those long-term gay couples before their marriages were made legal). So, I continued working while my SS benefits increased, and getting a supplement income from my wife’s SS payments.
Now I am surviving on my social security payments (on which I still pay income tax) and some savings from an inheritance. At about $1500 a month, it barely covers my monthly expenses (rent alone is $1K) but, without it I would still be dragging my weary self into some job every day despite not being up to it, and at minimum wage would be making only $1200 a month. I would probably have to give up Internet & TV and wouldn’t even get to see Bezos’ billion dollar joy ride to the edge of space.
I agree that $1500 a month SS is not quite making the ends meet if you are paying housing expenses, whether mortgages, upkeep, or rent. I wish the COL "raises" each year were based on the cost of food and medical expenses rather than the price of a few rather stable items. I have given up TV! (But not wi-fi). Wait! Did I hear someone say well why didn't you pay into a retirement plan, too? I did, only to lose 42% during 2008 depression, the year I retired. The rest is long gone on Medicare supplemental insurance, dental insurance and Co-Pays.
We are determined to make life better. It is good you are here and hopefully with passage of the $3.4 trillion or something close enough, second stimulus package, your budget will be less heavy. Salud!
Thank you, Fern.
I'm glad you mentioned the 2008 "depression". I call it the 2008 bailout scam. (See "Inside Job" documentary.) Every time I read or think of it, I'm reminded of the whole setup again. Matt Taibbi's book "Griftopia" is the explanation of how it was done. No one in the Wall Street Banker group went to jail, if they went to trial at all. We were scr**ed beyond the beyond. Goldman Sachs was overleveraged 330 times the amount of capital they actually had on hand. During the bailout, they were paid by the U.S. government the entire amount of the overleverage. It's so insulting what the crooks have done to the American people. I have to stop. Time to rest and sleep.
😡
How much was the average social security payment in 1950 compared to 2020 in real dollars? I suspect we have really lost ground.
It is real good to have you here on the Forum, too.
Thanks for this perspective Rob.
Would it be such a great loss to miss those boys playing with their toy spaceships? Although, I would definitely miss being able to make fun of them on YouTube, Twitter, and here!
Buchanan, and Andrew Johnson were worse. Faint praise indeed.
They were not in my lifetime and I was not in theirs so my perspective is limited.
Did they try to overthrow Congress with a coup attempt?
Did they foster a cult following that remained a Domestic Terrorist Threat to the U.S.?
The actual Verdict is not yet in on Don the Con.
I'd hang that banner over the House of Representatives, with just one edit: 'Did they try to overthrow the government of the USA with a coup attempt?
Johnson’s legacy is worse. He ended recons, and Afican Americans have yet to recover.
Worse than a one day insurrection.
What Rob said! History has yet to be written on tfg. I’ll wager once it is, he’ll win that contest by miles of dead bodies
As someone observed on FB (and paraphrased here), it seems men go into politics more often for fame and fortune and women do so to get something done. From anecdotal experience, the intent to get something done sure can upset and draw the ire of the “old boys network” 🤣
Careful to over-generalize. We can’t forget Marjorie Taylor Greene…Lauren Boebert…Sarah Palin…Sarah Huckabee…
Yes, obviously there are always exceptions. Another “generalized observation”, these women who “go rogue” don’t seem to garner much power or are short-term, i.e. they don’t last long enough to do much damage. 😆
It's all political theatre these days. I agree no lasting impact. I think we need a new performance metric for Congresscritters. I suggest an 'index of obnoxiousness'. On a scale of 0 to 10, using Louis Gohmert as a '5', where would rank the rest?
Instead of an index of obnoxiousness, I would suggest an index of “batshit crazy and dangerous”!
Loeffler and Taylor-Greene each get a 50 on your scale, and a 100 on a 10 scale of corruption. I saw Loeffler debate Rev. Warnock, and she gave the same coached robotic answer to every question -- an insipid attack on 'socialist Warnock.' Not a single independent thought, or answered question.
Gohmert ranks only a 5?
LOL - That's what I thought . . . Gohmert, et. al. rank a 25+ on a 10-scale!
Shhhhh. Those names do not belong in this most honored company today.
And Kelly Loeffler....
Well there is that...
Thank you Prof Richardson! I am a social worker, and a recipient of social security which I paid into since age 16 and am forever grateful to receive as my own best laid financial plans have not left me w a lot of squiggle room, but the basics of my life are paid for by my Social Security Ck each month!
I am also a voter who tries to understand the issues before I make decisions about my votes. Your efforts have and continue to expand my understanding of often complex issues. I am forever grateful you continue to write to all of us, for our votes will count toward keeping our country strong and safe for all of us in months & years to come.
I too couldn't make it without it. Thank you for your thoughts, Carol, and your carreer. Good social workers are indispensable.
I’m reminded of Rosalie Sorrels reading the chapter "Social Security" from her mother Nancy Stringfellow's memoir, "Report from Grimes Creek after a Hard Winter" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kscfpOq60Ws
It was so powerful when I first heard her read it a number of years ago; now even more so as I rely on that monthly check myself.
Oh, my! Loved the link. Listening to the whole interview now.
Thank you for posting the link to the memoir. Very moving. One can feel the lived experience through her words.
A client, fairly well heeled, screamed her indignation at the possibility of socialism. I asked her what she thought about Social Security and Medicare. Falling deeply into my trap (heh heh), she said she liked both of those things in her life. I told her that was basically Socialism to which she looked like a deer in the headlights and had no response. Conversation ended.
Perfect - Elaine!!!! And that fact needs to be HAMMERED on all main stream media by who? Democrats, maybe? These representatives (of US, the voters) need to open their mouths & use these press platforms to make this point. Why the heck arent they? It seems they only speak to the press to defend themselves from Repubs. Always DEfence!
Social security is not socialism. It is an integral part of a government run, secure social safety net that a market economy needs for society to function for every citizen. That word is incorrectly used as a pejorative to attack Democrats when in fact it doesn't exist in this country. And no one supports it from either party.
Well done, Elaine. Much nicer than my "I don't think that word means what you think it does" approach (and more effective as well.)
Ally, I’ve known you were my kind, but quoting Inigo Montoya and employing that approach…you’re at a near saintly level in my book!
Prepare to die
Perfect! When I told my R brother the same thing, he said, Yes but we don't want any more. To this I replied, It's a matter of balance. As the world changes and the U.S gets richer and richer, we are more & more able to take care of those who can't take care of themselves (SS and Medicare). With our increasing wealth we can now afford to educate our kids so they contribute to a better society for everyone. The same applies to providing healthcare for the needy. Healthy people will work and contribute to society. Etc., etc. Although I'm trying to get him to admit that the world is changing, therefore role of government must change too, he's dug in. I don't seem to making any headway. But I let him know that I'm not backing down or buying his R objections. We must persist!
Once someone has dug their heels in they rarely free up. A very wise and unusual person will be truly curious about what another says.
My approach is to talk about how universal healthcare relieves the burden on companies to pay for health insurance (which every year is a crap shoot in negotiations with Blue Cross et al, much less unions). Businesses can do the business of business instead, and save on ever rising and unpredictable healthcare cosrs. Win/Win.
😂😂😂
I wonder if they just don’t see the forest but for the trees 🤷♀️
Nice!!
Thanks you for this wonderful history lesson. Mt Holyoke has a program called "the Frances Perkins Program" for women returning to college to complete their undergraduate degree after a break. It is meant to empower women to be leaders like Frances Perkins. Although I am not a "Perkins scholar", I did return to complete my undergraduate degree at Smith College as an "Ada Comstock Scholar". The "Ada" program is very like the Frances Perkins program. Empowering women to be the leaders needed in this country is more important than ever. WE can make a difference!
;-) Smithies
Perkins is an unsung hero. If you have not read the fabulous book about her, you really should. Here is a simple link to help: https://francesperkinscenter.org/life-new/
To call her the architect of social “support” in the 20th century would be selling her short. Her vision is essentially what our friends on the right are trying to dismantle, basically…if you give FDR all the credit, or blame, you need to know this brilliant human. Oh, and SHE deserves a postage stamp…:)
Thank you for this! "In 1944, a piece portraying Frances Perkins in Collier’s magazine described her accomplishments over the previous twelve years as “not so much the Roosevelt New Deal, as … the Perkins New Deal.” She had accomplished all but one of the items on the agenda she had presented to the newly elected President in February of 1933: universal access to health care." Oh, if only Roosrvelt had lived long enough for Frances Perkins to establish universal access to healthcare. What a wonderful world it would have been, still can be!
This is an excellent read! Thank you for posting.
Thanks!
Thank you, Dr. Heather, for another history lesson that amazes me because of what I don't recall learning about. I feel that I have gotten way more than my money's worth from my subscription to your Letters, not only for these extremely interesting history lessons but also from the community you have built here, as I have also learned from others' comments.
Thank you, and please get some sleep!💜
The most important and far reaching piece of legislation ever passed! It ended poverty for hundreds of millions of Americans.
This amazing letter should be sent to Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Kristen Sinema and all other woman Senators as inspiration to take up the torch for social responsibility. Women somehow get it more than men when it comes to knowing how we all need to bond with each other to create social stability and community support. The lessons of Francis Perkins’ life and her accomplishments might be inspiring to those women in the Senate who currently hold power and have the power to transform the Senate to make Biden’s social agendas reality. I think McConnell is counting on the Democrats to implode over these two bills. Just a few Senate women can come together in the name of Francis Perkins and prove him wrong! How inspiring this letter is and full of the kind of hope we desperately need right now! Then onward to voting rights!
Great idea, Ned! And how about we send it to all the (Dem)(not crazy) women in the House, too! Along with a capsule biography of Dr Richardson, for any who have managed to remain ignorant of her. How do we do it? I wonder if in this community we have members from every state and all or most Congressional districts? So many Senators and Reps accept calls and emails only from their own constituents. I read somewhere that snail mail to Washington lawmakers is so heavily screened these days (for white powder, etc.) that there are long delays.
Send a link in an email with a message urging them to read it?
And for some other women.😩
From The Guardian.
“The expected transition to a Taliban-led administration in the coming days has sparked fears over the level of rights and freedoms to be granted women.
Last month, fighters from the group walked into the offices of Azizi Bank in the southern city of Kandahar and ordered nine women working there to leave, explaining that male relatives could take their place.
Speaking live on the BBC, Taliban Spokesman Suhail Shaheen said women “will have access to education and work” and leave their homes without male accompaniment.
However, a number of “horror stories” have emerged from areas that have fallen to Taliban insurgents in recent days.
The Guardian’s Women report Afghanistan project features a number of women describing their fears that the freedoms won since 2001 will be crushed.”
😔
:-(
Also
https://www.amazon.com/Why-Men-Dont-Listen-Women-Cant-Read-Road-Maps/dp/0767907639#
Thanks for this great tribute to Frances Perkins. Can’t resist mentioning that in the movie Dirty Dancing Baby tells Johnny that her real name is Frances, “after the first woman in the Cabinet.”
Thanks, Reva. I don't remember Baby saying that in the movie, which was one of my all-time favourites! Also, thank you Dr. Richardson for this interesting letter which raised my spirits after all the sad news of Saturday. I certainly hope your quote: "safe forever, and for the everlasting benefit of the people of the United States" will remain true!
Frances attended Mt Holyoke. A favorite line from Dirty Dancing : “nobody puts Baby in the corner” because “Baby’s starting Mount Holyoke in the fall”!
Oh!
I remember Baby saying that, all 473 times I saw it.
Haha, a special movie
The idea of “rugged individualism” is bs promoted by politicians to justify not doing a damn thing to address our society’s problems. There are so many problems that require group action to solve. John Donne, 400 years ago, said “No man is an island. . .”