Category: Safety Net for the Middle Class

TheVoiceOfJoyce EPA set to roll back Regulations that cost $40 B and save $254 B in healthcare costs.

March 19, 2025

Why roll back regulations that save people’s lives? Emissions are known to cause pollution, cancer, asthma and EPA wants to roll back Regs that don’t cap emissions, let coal plants burn, don’t care about factory emissions and generally encourage a dirty use of fossil fuels. The Inflation Reduction Act provided for the building of clean … More TheVoiceOfJoyce EPA set to roll back Regulations that cost $40 B and save $254 B in healthcare costs.

TheVoiceOfJoyce The news is terrible, but the majority are aware.

March 14, 2025

This article is from my paid subscription to Robert Reich. I don’t have time to summarize it, since I’m going to a Reform Women’s Conference today, in the Berkshires. Back Monday and we’ll catch up. Meanwhile, my long video , TheVoiceOfJoyce. Me on YouTube, drops Monday and does give you 3 reasons for concern and … More TheVoiceOfJoyce The news is terrible, but the majority are aware.

TheVoiceOfJoyce Judge orders rehiring of all employees fired for no cause.

March 13, 2025

6 agencies told to re hire all employees improperly fired. There are laws and procedures protecting Federal Employees . Additionally, in a separate Lawsuit, all probationary employees fired, were to be rehired. The Rule of Law is still intact. http://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/03/13/us/trump-tariff-government-news

TheVoiceOfJoyce House budget bill would allegedly cut $800 Billion in Medicaid

February 25, 2025

Both the Senate and House REPUBLICAN Budget bills will drastically cut Medicaid . Interesting, Two Trillion in cuts are scheduled over a decade. 72 million Americans are insured by Medicaid and they’re not all in rural Communities. Why should the poor and middle classes pay for defense and border control? Oddly, 2 Billion a year … More TheVoiceOfJoyce House budget bill would allegedly cut $800 Billion in Medicaid

Logo over the Light from the Statue of Liberty

TheVoiceOfJoyce Political Cartoons/Still Relevant since 2014!

December 27, 2023

From 2014 – now, I’ve created political cartoons with Justin Weingartner , reflecting our State of Inequality, taking a close look at the Impact of Corporations on our Governments and the livelihoods of “We the People”. Join me on my walk down memory lane. Unfortunately, Our State Of Inequality has persisted for 10 years and the Middle … More TheVoiceOfJoyce Political Cartoons/Still Relevant since 2014!

TheVoiceOfJoyce Want to increase your lifespan and dependency on drugs for anxiety, go to the Park. It’s a known fact, exposure to green spaces reduces asthma, high blood pressure and prescription drugs for anxiety. Perhaps, becoming a Park Ranger, or working in our National Parks may be therapeutic for people suffering from PTSD, homelessness, marginal employment. Build more green spaces, stop urban blight, global warming and help people thrive!

January 17, 2023

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/17/visiting-green-spaces-deters-mental-health-drug-use-researchers-find Visits to parks, community gardens and other urban green spaces may lower city dwellers’ use of drugs for anxiety, insomnia, depression, high blood pressure, and asthma, research has found. Researchers in Finland found that visiting such areas three to four times a week cuts people’s chances of turning to drugs for mental health problems … More TheVoiceOfJoyce Want to increase your lifespan and dependency on drugs for anxiety, go to the Park. It’s a known fact, exposure to green spaces reduces asthma, high blood pressure and prescription drugs for anxiety. Perhaps, becoming a Park Ranger, or working in our National Parks may be therapeutic for people suffering from PTSD, homelessness, marginal employment. Build more green spaces, stop urban blight, global warming and help people thrive!

TheVoiceOfJoyce The Inflation Reduction Act brought significant changes to our Medicare program. Most importantly Medicare will begin negotiating prices for the 10 most used prescription drugs. Insulin pricing is capped at $35/ month. Vaccines that are beneficial to Seniors are free and available to everyone. They include Shingrix, protection from Shingles, a debilitating disease that effects nerve endings. This Vaccine used to cost $200 at most pharmacies and two doses are effective for 10 yrs. There are now free Vaccines for Hepatitis A & B, pneumonia and an all in one, Tdap( tetanus, diphtheria and whooping cough). Overall drug costs will be capped as well. Refer to this article from The NY Times for important Medicare phone #’s. Be well.

January 15, 2023

http://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/14/health/medicare-drug-prices.html With Shingrix available at pharmacies without charge, “the receptivity to vaccination for older adults will increase substantially, especially among underserved populations,” he predicted. Also free: hepatitis A and hepatitis B vaccinations, and Tdap, which protects against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis (whooping cough). The third major change: When prices for drugs covered under Part D, … More TheVoiceOfJoyce The Inflation Reduction Act brought significant changes to our Medicare program. Most importantly Medicare will begin negotiating prices for the 10 most used prescription drugs. Insulin pricing is capped at $35/ month. Vaccines that are beneficial to Seniors are free and available to everyone. They include Shingrix, protection from Shingles, a debilitating disease that effects nerve endings. This Vaccine used to cost $200 at most pharmacies and two doses are effective for 10 yrs. There are now free Vaccines for Hepatitis A & B, pneumonia and an all in one, Tdap( tetanus, diphtheria and whooping cough). Overall drug costs will be capped as well. Refer to this article from The NY Times for important Medicare phone #’s. Be well.

TheVoiceOfJoyce What you don’t know, can hurt you or someone you love. Did you know, 1 in 5 workers, in low paying jobs, have signed non compete clauses? With Lina Kahn, as the head of the FTC, she’s banning non compete agreements. To break up monopoly power, non compete agreements should be banned at all salary levels. Money in Labor’s pocket, resurrects our Middle Class. All Americans should support banning non compete clauses in employment contracts. Why would I support this FTC ruling? I thrived in the Labor force without a non compete agreement, I changed jobs and professions every 3+ yrs and increased my salary regularly. The multi national corporations employing me, made millions from my ideas.

January 12, 2023

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/12/ftc-non-compete-agreements-biden-chair the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) proposed a sweeping new rule that would ban these non-compete agreements. This is a big deal. The FTC estimates that such a ban could increase wages by nearly $300bn a year (about $2,000 a worker, on average) by allowing workers to pursue better job opportunities. Non-competes also harm the … More TheVoiceOfJoyce What you don’t know, can hurt you or someone you love. Did you know, 1 in 5 workers, in low paying jobs, have signed non compete clauses? With Lina Kahn, as the head of the FTC, she’s banning non compete agreements. To break up monopoly power, non compete agreements should be banned at all salary levels. Money in Labor’s pocket, resurrects our Middle Class. All Americans should support banning non compete clauses in employment contracts. Why would I support this FTC ruling? I thrived in the Labor force without a non compete agreement, I changed jobs and professions every 3+ yrs and increased my salary regularly. The multi national corporations employing me, made millions from my ideas.

TheVoiceOfJoyce The Guardian was invited to a household in Jackson, Mississippi where the water has stopped flowing once again. This is a city of 150,000 mainly Black residents and the Republican legislature voted down funds to fix the pipes bringing water to Jackson residents. The Federal Government provided $600 million for the project, in December. It’s anticipated that FEMA will begin work shortly. Since 4 members of the Mississippi delegation voted against the Jackson Water Supply Funding, who represents poor Black Americans in their State? Why aren’t all citizens of Mississippi entitled to water?

January 7, 2023

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/07/jackson-mississippi-water-outage-neighbors-helping The same morning, Jackson’s mayor, Chokwe Lumumba, held a press conference to discuss plans to drastically overhaul the city’s crumbling water infrastructure. In November last year the entire system was taken under federal government oversight after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found the city in violation of the Safe Drinking Water Act. The move … More TheVoiceOfJoyce The Guardian was invited to a household in Jackson, Mississippi where the water has stopped flowing once again. This is a city of 150,000 mainly Black residents and the Republican legislature voted down funds to fix the pipes bringing water to Jackson residents. The Federal Government provided $600 million for the project, in December. It’s anticipated that FEMA will begin work shortly. Since 4 members of the Mississippi delegation voted against the Jackson Water Supply Funding, who represents poor Black Americans in their State? Why aren’t all citizens of Mississippi entitled to water?

TheVoiceOfJoyce Putin and Shoigu live in a past historical glory of their own imagination. We might as well be watching Jack Ryan on Amazon Prime, with rogue Soviets triggerring War with the West. Unfortunately, for the Ukrainian people, Russia’s war is real. Russian missiles destroy infrastructure and murder individuals. The Ukrainians are constantly battling the missiles and Russian troops. Russian advancement on Ukrainian territory hasn’t occurred since the war started. The Russians don’t hold territory. It’s the New Year, let’s hope there will be Peace, though Putin and his 2 nd are signaling the opposite.

December 31, 2022

http://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2022/dec/31/russia-ukraine-war-live-ukraine-troops-fighting-fiercest-battles-in-donbas-says-zelenskiy Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, said victory for Russia over Ukraine was “inevitable” as he hailed Russian soldiers’ heroism in a new year’s video message. Moscow’s defence chief, who has been heavily criticised by pro-war voices in Russia for battlefield failures during the 10-month campaign, said the situation on the frontlines remained “difficult” and … More TheVoiceOfJoyce Putin and Shoigu live in a past historical glory of their own imagination. We might as well be watching Jack Ryan on Amazon Prime, with rogue Soviets triggerring War with the West. Unfortunately, for the Ukrainian people, Russia’s war is real. Russian missiles destroy infrastructure and murder individuals. The Ukrainians are constantly battling the missiles and Russian troops. Russian advancement on Ukrainian territory hasn’t occurred since the war started. The Russians don’t hold territory. It’s the New Year, let’s hope there will be Peace, though Putin and his 2 nd are signaling the opposite.