Cruel and unusual conservatives
by digby
Over at Salon I discussed the cruel streak the right right wing is so shamelessly displaying these days. It's not just the way they are treating these kids at the border, although that's the most recent example. They also treat pregnant women with contempt, despise the poor and are increasingly derisive toward the sick and the disabled:
So, it should come as no surprise that the next cruel attack on vulnerable Americans is to cut the federal disability program, which is run through the Social Security Administration. Darrell Issa’s personal wrecking crew, also known as the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, took time away from Benghazi! and its Javert-like pursuit of former IRS commissioner Lois Lerner to issue a report claiming that the program is rife with waste and fraud and must be cut to the bone to restore America’s trust. Here’s what Senator Sherrod Brown had to say about this:
There is a quiet, covert war being waged on Social Security. The tactic? Divide and conquer.
They have made so-called “structural reforms” their goal. But it’s up to us to call it like it is: privatization. […]
We need to recognize these attacks for what they are—backdoor attempts to weaken Social Security by dismantling disability insurance.
And why not? Being cruel to people who are disabled and cannot work seems to be quite popular among Tea Party members, many of whom are disabled themselves (but, of course, they deserve their benefits while other do not.) Recall this nauseating display of cruelty during the healthcare debate.