Hunger Games, U.S.A. - Krugman
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/15/opinion/krugman-hunger-games-usa.html?ref=paulkrugman&_r=0Paul Krugman
Something terrible has happened to the soul of the Republican Party. Weve gone beyond bad economic doctrine. Weve even gone beyond selfishness and special interests. At this point were talking about a state of mind that takes positive glee in inflicting further suffering on the already miserable.
The occasion for these observations is, as you may have guessed, the monstrous farm bill the House passed last week.
For decades, farm bills have had two major pieces. One piece offers subsidies to farmers; the other offers nutritional aid to Americans in distress, mainly in the form of food stamps (these days officially known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP).
Long ago, when subsidies helped many poor farmers, you could defend the whole package as a form of support for those in need. Over the years, however, the two pieces diverged. Farm subsidies became a fraud-ridden program that mainly benefits corporations and wealthy individuals. Meanwhile food stamps became a crucial part of the social safety net.
So House Republicans voted to maintain farm subsidies at a higher level than either the Senate or the White House proposed while completely eliminating food stamps from the bill.
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adirondacker
(2,921 posts)Myrina
(12,296 posts)I'm sure WalMart will do the same, soon.
adirondacker
(2,921 posts)Instead of black lung, its diabetes and a plethora of other health problems.
And the figures for heat and food each read zero! That's called beating the downtrodden to a pulp and then stomp 'em for bleeding. The thin and false veneer of civilization is fast disappearing from the corporate world. They think they already have us so beaten there's no need to pretend anymore, and there's nothing we can do about it.
Guess again.
PopeOxycontinI
(176 posts)Here we have the smoking gun for their hypocrisy...maintaining subsidies for the corporate/wealthy
while complaining about "big government". They apparently want to maintain that while letting
50 million Americans starve during an economy they themselves complain about to try to score political
points. They are hypocrites wrapped in a sycophantic asshole shell wrapped dipped in outrageous
hypocrite butter sauce. They are subhuman.
Doctor_J
(36,392 posts)Hopefully the democrats will repeat this constantly for sixteen months.
Stuart G
(38,449 posts)Last edited Tue Jul 16, 2013, 06:06 PM - Edit history (1)
"Something terrible has happened to the soul of the Republican Party. Weve gone beyond bad economic doctrine. Weve even gone beyond selfishness and special interests. At this point were talking about a state of mind that takes positive glee in inflicting further suffering on the already miserable. "
The occasion for these observations is, as you may have guessed, the monstrous farm bill the House passed last week.