Political Commentary September 30- 2012 USA Obama Elections

Mitt Romney is struggling to catch up with Obama. He closed the gap behind Obama slightly.
The employment picture for Obama is not bright. Unemployment went up in September from 8.1% to 8.2%.
The expiration of tax cuts on January-2013 is likely and should be very much encouraged.
The chances of capturing the Senate for Republicans are not promising.
The Supreme Court balance on the right or left is at stake for what president will win in November 2012, Obama or Romney.
Obama snub of not meeting with Netenyaho or Morsi during their visit to UN is reverberating.

Social Security Taxation.

Congress should consider increasing the amount of income taxed for Social Security to make the program fiscally sound for the foreseeable future, Fourth Congressional District Democratic candidate Teresa Hensley said yesterday.

At a campaign event in Columbia billed as a "Seniors Listening Post," Hensley attacked Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler as an extremist intent on gutting the program that provides income for most retirees. She also slammed Hartzler for voting for budget proposals that cut deeply into Medicare, Medicaid and other programs providing support for senior citizens.
"This current Congress has really failed to get anything done, except vote for the Ryan budget," Hensley said, referring to the spending proposal from GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan.
About two dozen people attended the event at the Columbia Housing Authority's Oak Towers, 700 N. Garth Ave.
Ryan's budget proposed transforming Medicare into a voucher system to support private insurance purchases. Hensley's position paper released at the event said the proposal cuts about $700 billion from Medicare over a 10-year period and cuts $744 billion from Medicaid by turning it into a block grant program, ending "traditional Medicare as we know it."
Hartzler's campaign replied that Hensley is dragging up discredited attacks. "Even the left-leaning publication Politifact has labeled this line of attack the 'lie of the year,' " said Noah Green, political director for Hartzler's campaign. "It's a shame that Teresa Hensley would stoop to this level of deceit in a desperate attempt to salvage her campaign. Congresswoman Hartzler has consistently stood up for senior citizens and is committed to preserving and protecting Medicare."
Politifact, in December, labeled the charge that the Ryan budget would end Medicare as the "lie of the year." But it also has said the underlying charge, that it cuts massively from the program, is true.
Hensley was joined at the event by former state Rep. Judy Baker, who most recently was regional director for the Department of Health and Human Services, which supervises the Medicare and Medicaid programs.
Baker was responsible for early steps implementing the Affordable Care Act, which Republicans denounce. Hartzler, at her campaign events, reminds voters that she has voted 31 times in the past two years to repeal the law, upheld this summer by the U.S. Supreme Court.
One aspect, likely to be controversial in next year's legislative session, is whether the state will accept federal assistance to expand Medicaid. By some estimates, Baker said, 255,000 more Missourians would be covered and the state would receive $11 billion over five years to pay for it. The state's share would be small, she said, and "a very small investment will give a great number of high-paying health care jobs."
Medicaid is vital to senior citizens and people with disabilities, said Aimee Wehmeier, executive director of Services for Independent Living. Wehmeier has Type II spinal muscular atrophy but has lived independently since age 18.
She needs help every day, provided by Medicaid, she said. Private insurance does not cover personal assistants for daily chores. "Without Medicaid, it is no doubt I would be living in a nursing home," she said.
Hensley said the budget plans backed by Hartzler would cut off vital support. "What this do-nothing Congress would do is end Medicaid," she said.

http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2012/sep/27/hensley-slams-proposed-program-cuts/?news