I guess slashing food stamps just wasn't bad enough...
By Thom Hartmann A...
Less than 24 hours after voting to slash food stamp funding, House Republicans moved on to a full government shut down. On Friday, the US House of Representatives passed their version of a short-term spending resolution, which includes a measure to defund Obamacare. Before the vote, Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell called on Republicans to “wake up from their radical, ideological dream” and oppose the legislation.
Even Senate Republicans have warned their colleagues in the House against tying government funding to Obamacare. On Monday, Senator John McCain said, “Republicans ought to understand that if we shut down the government, Congress always gets blamed – rightly or wrongly – Congress gets blamed. We've seen the movie before. It's just some of them weren't around at the time; I was.”
Of course, the House resolution will be dead on arrival in the Senate, but that didn't stop House Republicans from their 42nd attempt to kill the President's healthcare law. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will strip the Obamacare provision out of the spending bill, and even President Obama has said he would veto any proposal that defunds the healthcare law.
The House bill is nothing more than a political game, which brings our nation closer to the brink of economic disaster. Apparently, House Republicans would rather continue their economic terrorism, even if it means that poor people, the elderly, our veterans, and our entire economy get caught in the crossfire.
Comments
#2
I missed most of a segment, but heard right at the end Thom say something about how the U.S. deals with trash. That very minute, I was watching a promo for a movie called "Midway", about the Pacific Gyre trash that ends up inside shore birds (among other animals, I'm sure).
#3
The wendigo (or "wetico") legend was probably created to enforce a taboo on cannibalism. The version of the legend that I find the most interesting is the one that claims that the cannibal possessed by the wendigo spirit grows in proportion to what he eats, so that he can never be sated. It's a great analogy for monetary greed.
("Wendigo" seems to be the most common form of the word, and has the advantage of not sounding like a Spanish word that would be spelled "huetico". I had trouble finding information on it for a while.)
#4
Some people hate Obamacare, but they can't wait for the Affordable Healthcare for Americans Act. Some people can't stop talking about Benghazi. Same people.
#5
Fiscal conservatism is not on the Republican's agenda. Should they ever get into power again (highly unlikely) they will spend more in one year than Obama spent in 8 years. The real conservative agenda is that the rich, successful, and powerful need to run the show - the poor, the workers, the under achievers are not smart enough to have a voice in government. Thus, food stamps are not necessary as the ruling class does not need them. Corporate welfare, defense spending, tax breaks for millionaires are the necessary agenda items. The rest of us can "eat cake". The sooner people realize this, the sooner things can turn around.
#6
Is anyone organizing to get these Republican obstructionists out of office??
#7
Reprinted from yesterdays blog. (This one deserves repeating)
Flopot ~ Wow! Thanks for that link to what can only be described as a mind boggling article. What an education! I had no idea they turned a charity into a racket.
For the benefit of anyone who missed it here are a couple of quick clips from Flopots reference:
The Roosevelt InstituteQuote Article: Food Stamps: JPMorgan and Banking Industry Profit From Misery:These are boom times for such services — a new report from the US Department of Agriculture reports that 43.6 million Americans are now using food stamps, nearly 14% of the population, which is a record number. Paton notes this trend himself: “Volumes have gone through the roof in the last couple of years,” he says. “This business is a very important business to JPMorgan in terms of its size and scale.” And the numbers bear him out. According to the company’s most recent quarterly filing with the SEC, the Treasury & Securities Services segment, which is the division that includes the food stamp business, was up 2% in the last three months of last quarter and brought in $5.47 billion in net revenue for most of 2010.That means that $5.47 Billion in our tax money earmarked for hungry people are going into the hands of Bankers. But wait, there's more.
Quote Article: Food Stamps: JPMorgan and Banking Industry Profit From Misery:Paton’s quick to point out that this isn’t just about profit at JPMorgan — it’s also serving a “useful social function.” And department execs don’t have to sit around hoping for unemployment to skyrocket so they can make a buck — more than 40% of food stamp recipients have a job, as Paton notes. Even if you get a job, you still have an almost one in two chance of still not being able to buy groceries, so JPMorgan can continue to make its profits as unemployment falls (someday).
http://rooseveltinstitute.org/new-roosevelt/food-stamps-jpmorgan-banking-industry-profit-misery
Isn't that just peachy? Almost half of food stamp recipients work; yet work such crappy paying jobs that they can't afford both a roof and food. And if we force those who don't work into the crappy job market at their disposal it is a 50/50 chance that they still won't be able to afford food. To add insult to injury this article goes on to say that JPMorgan also outsourced all the food stamp debit card support jobs to India. Why do Bankers hate American citizens and their own country so much? These parasites are profiting off of this horrible situation!
No wonder so many people don't even bother looking for work. Who can blame them? It is a crime that our government has allowed this program to be privatized. They have committed embezzlement. They are costing the taxpayer over $5 billion annually by skimming it off the top for their Banker cronies.
This is a problem that can ONLY be resolved with the repeal of free trade. If one out of two available jobs do not pay a living wage we need to vote out of office everyone who does not strongly advocate the repeal of free trade, campaign finance reform, and move to amend. These shills are literally getting away with murder.
#8
It's no accident that whenever "poor people, the elderly, our veterans, and our entire economy get caught in the crossfire," children, women and men die as a result. The killings begin with the approximately 44,000 persons who are murdered each year by denial of health care that -- in civilized nations -- is considered a human right. These carefully hidden slayings, which in truth number in the hundreds of thousands, are not collateral damage. They are the means by which capitalism rids itself of those who are no longer exploitable for profit. The fatalities are also used to inflict terror on those who remain in the workplace. The politicians are well aware of what is being done. But the charade of democracy enables them to perpetuate their cunningly engineered system of homicide by abandonment -- and thereby to exterminate us without the public embarrassment of death camps. Yet no mainstream journalist -- including Thom Hartmanm and other reporters and commentators on the mainstream Left -- dares call this ongoing atrocity what it truly is: GENOCIDE.
#9
FACE WALL STREET and say this prayer at the opening and closing of the NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE:
THE REPUBLICAN CREED
REPUBLICANS believe the government should help the rich live long and prosper.
REPUBLICANS believe the government should let the rich exploit the working classes until they die from hard work and exhaustion.
REPUBLICANS believe the government should just let the poor die off from disease and starvation because they never will amount to anything anyway and are just a drain on the rich.
#10
There is the same problem getting any sensible coverage by news media on geoengineering. Weather modification throughout the world is causing suffering and death to millions in the name of global warming. The man-ipulation of climate is making huge profits for large corporations. This subject has been called a conspiracy and yet the patents to spread tons of aluminum, barium and strontium into our atmosphere are freely available to see. Slow death from alzheimers is also genocide and is making health care a lot of money, the same with cancer, childhood rickets (sunshine depleted by %20) and many more escalating illnesses.
#11
Quote Loren Bliss: The killings begin with the approximately 44,000 persons who are murdered each year by denial of health care that -- in civilized nations -- is considered a human right.
Loren Bliss ~ When such a number of fatalities as of the result of lack of health care is stated it is helpful to cite a source. Not wishing to burden Mr. Bliss with this question I did my own research and concluded that Loren was off by 1,000 uninsured deaths.
45,000 is a more realistic estimate. Therefore, as Mr. Bliss contends that the number is more likely hundreds of thousands, I am very reluctant to question.
May God help us all.
#12
I'll never forget the last words of my father when he was put into the first and last Ambulance ride of his life, "How much is this going to cost me?" Is this really the last concern that we want in our lifetime? I don't think so. We need Medicare for all...NOW!!!
#13
Matthew 25:
44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
Now then, the question is: can a Republican be a Christian or a Righteous Person?
#14
George Reiter ~ The answer is... NO!!
#15
The Republican logic is slowly becoming very clear to me. Could the following statement be true?
“Since we Repubs cannot state ‘look what we’ve done for you citizens’ come next election,’ we need to starve them out and lay to rest the sick and dying of as many as we can. This is a numbers game, boys.”
Who knows, maybe it’ll work? Didn’t the Nazi’s try something similar with the “Jewish Problem”?
#16
Republican logic is "fickle." They say social spending is out of control, so rather than weed out the cheats, we should take away from everyone. Apply that same logic to out of control gun violence, and their solution should be to take guns away from everyone. Must be political contributions from the poor are down.
#17
Corporate Capitalist solution; "Let them eat...Actually, fuck it, I really don't care what they eat as long as my pockets stay phat"!
#18
Financial statement of Lawrence Summers:
http://cryptome.org/2013/09/larry-summers-assets.pdf
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#19
You can bet that they will shut down every government function except spying on us!
Quote paper:...Stellar Wind which involved placing fibre-optic cable “splitters” in major Internet switching centres, and triaging the enormous volumes of traffic in real-time with a small high-performance scanning computer (known as a deep-packet inspection box), which would send data filtered by this means back to the NSA. An AT&T technical supervisor in the San Francisco office was asked to assist in constructing such a facility (“Room 641A”) and was concerned that this activity manifestly broke US Constitutional protections, because the cable carried domestic as well as international traffic.
As AT&T is "upgrading" to fiber optics (to all their Central Offices anyway..certainly not to the homes) they are very likely installing "prisms" in those systems everywhere and not just in a San Francisco Room 641A. note: the prisms are actual prisms that split light and when used in spying on a fiber optics data communications line it sees everything (splits off a copy) of everything that goes through the main path.
Quote paper:
...two newspapers revealed the existence of an NSA programme codenamed PRISM, which accessed data from leading brands of US Internet companies. By the end of the day a statement from Adm.Clapper (Director of NSA) officially acknowledged the PRISM programme...1.5.1
“Upstream”
The slides published from the Snowden material feature references to “Upstream” collection programmes by the NSA adumbrated by various codewords. Data is copied from both public and private networks to the NSA from international fibre-optic cables at landing points, and from central exchanges which switch Internet traffic between the major carriers...1.5.2
XKeyscore
The XKeyscore system was described in slides (dated 2008) published by The Guardian on the 31st of July. It is an “exploitation system/analytic framework. It is an “exploitation system/analytic framework”, which enables searching a “3 day rolling buffer” of “full take” data stored at 150 global sites on 700 database servers. The system integrates data collected from US embassy sites, foreign satellite and microwave transmissions (i.e. the system formerly known as ECHELON), and the “upstream” sources above.The system indexes e-mail addresses, file names, IP addresses and port numbers, cookies, webmail and chat usernames and buddylists, phone numbers, and metadata from web browsing sessions (including words typed into search engines and locations visited on Google Maps). The distinctive advantage of the system is that it enables an analyst to discover “strong selectors” (search parameters which identify or can be used to extract data precisely about a target), and to look for “anomalous events” such as someone “using encryption” or “searching for suspicious stuff”.
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Yeah "suspicious stuff".."anomalous events" like porn search words? You know, the really bad "terrorists" activities!
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Quote paper:
1.5.3
BULLRUN is the codename for a NSA programme for the last decade for an “aggressive multi-pronged effort to break into widely used encryption technologies”...... backdoor mechanisms previously only known by the NSA....
...collaboration with vendors of IT security products and software, mathematical cryptanalysis and “side-channel” attacks, forging of public-key certificates, infiltrating and influencing technical bodies towards adopting insecure standards, and likely use of coercive legal orders to compel introduction of “backdoors”. It is important to stress that no evidence has emerged (yet) that the fundamental cipher algorithms in common use have been broken mathematically, however over the past few years doubts have grown about vulnerabilities in the complex “protocols” used to set -up and ensure compatibility amongst the software in common use....
...could compel disclosure of cryptographic keys, including the SSL keys used to secure data-in-transit by major search engines, social networks, webmail portals, and Cloud services in general...
#20
PhilfromOhio: I wholeheartedly agree with you PhilfromOhio!!!
I recently got a letter from AT&T Uverse saying that I need to call their numbers to sign up with AT&T Uverse or else my phone service/internet service would be interrupted. This greatly ticked me off! And I have been doing a lot of research into what my alternatives would be. I have DishTV which, of course gives me the alternative TV channels I like to watch...FSTV, LinkTV, and Russia Today TV (RT). AT&T UVerse offers packages including something called Triple Play (phone, internet, and TV). But their TV doesn't include any of those three channels...they sure do have Fox TV though...yuk!...as well as a bunch of other yukky channels I'd never watch...religion...sports...sales). I checked other options like Cable and other satellite providers and none of them supply those 3 channels either.
One place you can express your disappointment is AT&T UVerse forums:
https://forums.att.com/t5/AT-T-U-verse-Community/ct-p/attuverse
#21
I am so tired of these horrible situations that are holding back our economy and treating poor people like pit bulls in an animal shelter. I'm retired and between small pension and social security I am able to keep up. The good thing is I never tried to live like I was rich and always try and not spend too more than I can afford. But, my daughter with a 9 year old girl is on food stamps, which pretty much limits their grocery list. I help them, but I'm not rich either. She's 52 years old and doing yard work. Every job she applies for has way too many other people applying she never gets anywhere. My 24 year old grandson was able to be put back on my son's health insurance policy and he had a life threatening infection last year and spent 4 days in the hospital. If there wasn't Obama Cares, he would have walked out of the hospital owing $170,000! Try and pay that off on a minimum wage! My neighbors are on food stamps. She had a good job locally assembling medical equipment. About two years ago they moved the operation to Costa Rica, so now she's working at a clothing store for minimum wage. I see so many people needing a hand and to think the republicans want to take even the little help they get from the government, I think they are stingy, greedy, selfish people! Peace Out!
#22
Palindromedary ~ Thanks for that interesting link to the financial statement of Lawrence Summers. I see the IESE Business School coughed up $112,500 just to have him speak. I wonder how much it would cost to get him to sit down and shut up?.
#23
I certainly hope so, because I'm sure going to vote OUT every...single...last...one. PERIOD!!!
#24
With the Affordable Care for all Act as a stepping stone, we as a nation will soon join the rest of the developed world with the most affordable.....Affordable Care Act known as single payer. The health insurance banking industry with the republican clown party at their sides know this and they ain't going down without a fight, even with the knowledge that it's a kamikaze mission. It's just the nature of rich guys who have always gotten their way no matter what....well guess what, not this time!
#25
Fox News, the only so called news station whose major agenda since Oboma was elected was to attack him day after day after day in an ongoing effort on all of his proposals to resolve the nations economic problems he had no hand in creating... as they existed and were created long before he ran for the position he currently holds... i.e., Obama won re-election as a result of the majority of this countries voters supporting his views and proposed solutions for turning this economey around since they agreed with his assesment as to what the problems were and who caused them...
Further more, on top of all that criticisim, offer no alternative solutions as they and the tea party they support are not a solution to the problem rather they are the source of it... i.e., pitting the two party system against itself like a house divied so as for it to fall... that is, biblically sjpeaking... for the republi"cons" as in "con"-artistist(s) that can't win an election being truthfull, resort to deception in their attempt to capitalize on the voting republic by making use of supper pack money rather than attempting to overturn citezens united... These Tea party half witts that have been trying to defund "the affordable health care act" don't refer to it by its name as they don't want you and me to think they are against affordable health care when in deed they are... and, they believe that if they keep attempting to do something the same way over and over and over again with no success, success can eventually be accomplished... i.e., how many times have they voted to defund Obama care rather than call it what it is by its name (the affordable health care act) 40 times ??? And, by what means of justification do they attribute to for all these failed attempts? Why thats an easy one to answer... answer solely being to satisfy the whimsical desires of a minority of corporate shills in the house, not the senate, that would rather side with tea party in exchange for more future super pack money while keeping their friendship with all the insurrance companies that contribute to their campaign fund as well... i.e., the good old boys club... you scratch my back i'll scratch yours with a few legilated favors...
This is a prime example of the "same problem" when it comes to getting any sensible coverage of actual news wherein any truth could permiate the major news media statons since the acual news stations don't have the resources between elections to debunk what Fox news airs daily along with all the Clear Channel radio stations such as the ones who gave Rush Limbaugh a $400 million dollar contract for eight years ($50 million dollars a year) to talk out his ass through his golden microphone... Clear Channel a subsidiary of Bain Capital so too know you who signs his pay check sets his agenda...they are the prime leaders and disemulators of falsehoods and or deception (half truths)...
Take for example Monsanto, the major corporate giant capitalizing on geoengineering regardless of the harmful long term effects it will have on consumers of their biproducts while their long term intent is to monopolize the seeds of deception to the extent famers have no choice on whome they get the ones they plant from... Regarding Fox News, as an example, I believe this utube video will shed som light on the bottom line that drives that media station...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=LsglbfZLc_0
What these minority of young so called freshmen republican house members and corporate shills have managed to do is get the rest of the republicans in the house to vote strictly party line against any agenda of the other side or against what the majority of the taxpaying nation wants... affordable health care... I guess thats why they refer to it as Oboma Care since he cares and they don't.. and, by refering to it as such, figure they will have more success in their attempt to defund it by getting all the half witts who are already against Obama, against affordable health care, by signing his name to it and the democratic party rather than a plausable solution by representatives of the peoples choice... since to do otherwise would be an effort to solve a lagitamate problem facing many in this country who are impoverished and in need, of which, they seem to have no regaurd for ...
Perhaps it is because they themselves are not effected by the high cost of health care or, perhaps they have never been denied health care due to pre-existing condisions or the lack of in-affordablity due to not having an impoverished income as others have who would benifit from "the affordable health care act" since, as members of the house, having all the perks that come with that position, can't relate or simply don't care to relate for lack of compasion toward those in need which Oboma and the democratic party evidently has ... i.e., they having the best health care as a member of the house or a senator on top of the wages those positions provide at the expense of the tax payer since it includes otherwise un-affordable health care for them at no coast other than the cost to the taxpayer vis-a vis a taxpayer being covered of not... many of whome can't afford health care for themselves let alone food on the table, something they would like to take away also in addition to the bill they disrespectfully refer to as Oboma care... infact, they want to take foodstamps away and give the equivalent amount that would shave off the budget in one hand and give it in the form of subsadies to corporate welfare giants like Monsanta so as to aid them in feeding us not only a whold lot of bull, but a whole lot of GEO's that are sure to drive up health care costs.
I say get a list of these tea party corporate shills that keep obstructing the will of the people, make it public and use it as a reason to vote their asses out come next election by supporting unions that support both the public and private sectors by voting on paper ballots people can count and not on voting machines that can be rigged by the same corporate shills that manufacture and regulate them or we will end up with more cronnies and possibly a monsanta horned and tailed entity in office having run as a Republican corporate shill legislating more favors for the corporation they actually represent...
Note, I have no spell check and did this in a hurry so expect some spelling errors...
#26
Yes
#27
During Friday's radio show you referred to this topic several times, asking "why don't the Republicans tell the truth and say they want to completely end food stamps [for ideological reasons]"?
I have my own theory about all of this. First, the individuals at the "top" of the Republican pyramid never tell their footsoldiers either their true endgame nor their true reasons for their strategy. They generate alot of noise which is a smokescreen to the truth.
In the book, "Prison State: The Challenge of Mass Incarceration," by Bert Useem and Anne Morrison Piehl (2008: Cambridge University Press)(available on Amazon) there is alot of valuable analysis of the overall issue. However, one quote really stands out.
"Christopher Jencks has observed, "Like rain on election day, crime is good for Republicans. . . . When the crime rates rise, liberals always find themselves on the defensive." The partisan advantage of high crime rates may have weakened, or even disappeared, with falling crime rates. To the extend the buildup reduced the crime rate, it may have taken away from Republicans an election-winning issue. This may have counterbalanced the immediate effect of excluding felons from voting. We do not know this."
These writers are experts, and the discussion is nuanced. This book is worth buying and reading, no question. My post, here, is to tie together Thom's thinking about "why are Republicans ending Food Stamps," with this academic thought. My personal belief is that Republicans want to plunge America back into serious, widespread crime as quickly as possible. They are aggressively treasonous, making their political strategy with one single goal: control of the Supreme Court, the FISA court, the Senate, the House and the Presidency. And they are willing to make people desperate enough to turn to crime in order to achieve their (the Republican strategists) goals. This is why they want to end Food Stamps. It's why they want to "force" President Obama to do something--anything--to weaken Social Security. The Social Security goal: make seniors angry at President Obama (and frightened of crime) so that they vote Republican one last time. Because after they do that, we may never get an opportunity to have a free and fair election ever again.
#28
Quote RACadmin:I say get a list of these tea party corporate shills that keep obstructing the will of the people, make it public and use it as a reason to vote their asses out come next election by supporting unions that support both the public and private sectors by voting on paper ballots people can count and not on voting machines that can be rigged by the same corporate shills that manufacture and regulate them or we will end up with more cronnies and possibly a monsanta horned and tailed entity in office having run as a Republican corporate shill legislating more favors for the corporation they actually represent...
RACadmin ~ As you wish...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_politicians_affiliated_with_the_Tea_Party_movement
#29
I don't think Pres. Obama needs any help ticking off the seniors...he's doing just fine all by himself...people know that Obama has shown that he is not a liberal Democrat by far...and is more right wing than left wing. His appointments...his actions.... speak louder than empty campaign rhetoric.
The Republicans didn't force Obama to crack down on whistle blowers. They didn't force Obama to appoint the economic wolves who created the whole financial mess we're in to be his economic advisers. They didn't force Obama to keep our torture chambers in Gitmo, and elsewhere, open. They didn't force the Obama regime to be the most secretive and spying on the people regime ever. They didn't force Obama to accept their ACA (aka Obama Care)...it was originally a Republican plan you know! In fact, Obama Care may be hurting Medicare...hurting Seniors! The damn Democrats are only hurting themselves when the talk the talk but don't walk the walk. It's time all Democrats vote third party candidates...even if it risks putting Republicans in office. The overwhelming numbers would show both parties that we are not going to be held captive by the same old boy two-party system anymore. We won't be held captive by fake Democrats scaring people into believing they have no other choice but to elect fake Democrats (who are merely part of the ruling elite game to control us all).
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The disinformation mill is spreading all manner of falsehoods about food stamp programs and the Affordable Care Act. With the help of right-wing extreme radio and cable TV, they are confusing and misleading millions of people. I have a suggestion for listeners and for Thom to make a push for truth in information. I just contacted my cable tv company, which does not carry Free Speech TV, and asked how to pursuade them to do so. The rep on the chat line gave me a phone number to call and said she would also pass my request on. Let's get going and prod cable providers to get this content into their programming. Considering all the reality dribble and other wasted bandwidth that they now carry, it would be a huge help and public service to get Free Speech TV into more cable line ups. I would appreciate seeing a coverage map of where this is available in the country. I suspect we have a lot of white space on the map. Letting the Right Wing Message go unanswered is a sin that we will all pay for. Make some noise. Better yet, make lots of polite and thoughtful requests. If nothing happens, keep pushing my friends...............................