Cuccinelli Perpetuates Right-Wing Lies

As has been pointed out on Blue Virginia, Ken Cuccinelli’s new book continues to spread lies that are part of the right wing mythology that demonizes the least among us, equating compassion and care of the weak and the sick with some sort of evil plot. Cuccinelli wants to equate raw greed and hatred of government with good public policy.

One lie Cuccinelli repeats is that somehow Social Security is a “subsidized government benefit.” That’s a blatant lie. Social Security is now, and has been from its inception, a self-funding, social pension insurance program. In fact, it has been a cash cow for the government which has used the revenue from Social Security taxes to add money to the Federal operating budget.

In another lie, Cuccinelli calls Medicaid “outright welfare,” contending that it “makes people dependent on government.” Just who are these “deadbeats” that Cuccinelli wants to be thrown onto their own devices to survive? Let’s look at facts, not right-wing lies.  

According to the Congressional Budget Office, 64% of Medicaid spending in 2011 was for older Americans in nursing homes who had used all their own funds prior to getting Medicaid and for people with severe physical or mental disabilities. Do Cuccinelli and his radical ilk promote throwing those people out on the street? About 20% of Medicaid spending went to poor children. Shall we just let them grow up, if they get to grow up, with no health care at all? Only about 16% of Medicaid money went to adults. In Virginia, Medicaid isn’t even given to childless adults, and parents are only covered if they make $6,600 or less annually, which is far below the Federal poverty level.

I, for one, am sick and tired of people like Cuccinelli dressing up their selfishness and social darwinism in conservative politics. These people aren’t conservative. They’re radical, They’re dangerous to the social fabric that knits this nation together. They’re an affront to my religious faith that teaches me that I am my brother’s keeper, that charity to others is a moral responsibility I should welcome. There is only one solution for the poison they spew. They need to be retired from public office.