Just let this sink in for a second…
In an ironic twist to the GOP’s war on the poor, it turns out that the people who are the most negatively affected by Republican cuts in food programs – are Republicans themselves.
Statistics reveal that the city holding the most beneficiaries of the SNAP program (a favorite target of the GOP) is 99.22% white and 95% Republican. Owsley County, Kentucky earns the lowest median household income in the country, but they are the most prolific government-takers in U.S. existence.
According to a TIME analysis of county-by-county food stamp enrollment data, GOP politicians represent more districts that majorly participate in SNAP than Democrats.
Zach, thanks. Exactly right.
From 6 May 2015, althought “Sex, Drugs and Poverty in Red and Blue America,” doesn’t address food stamps, the data driven article makes the identical point.
“In the fall of 1969, Merle Haggard topped the Billboard country charts for four weeks with “Okie from Muskogee,” the song that quickly became the anthem of red America, even before we called it that.
“We don’t smoke marijuana in Muskogee, we don’t take our trips on LSD, we don’t burn our draft cards down on Main Street, we like livin’ right and bein’ free,” Haggard declared. “We don’t make a party out of lovin’, we like holdin’ hands and pitchin’ woo.”
Times have changed.
…
The Baltimore poverty rate is 23.8 percent, 8.4 points above the national rate, but below Muskogee’s 27.7 percent. The median household income in Baltimore is $41,385, $11,661 below the $53,046 national level, but $7,712 above Muskogee’s $33,664.
If conservatives place responsibility on liberal Democrats, feminism and the abandonment of traditional family values for Baltimore’s decay, what role did the 249 churches in and around Muskogee play in that city’s troubles?
The fact is that the poor and working classes of both races were not well equipped to adjust to changes in behavior driven by the sexual revolution and the second demographic transition – a collection of forces that are inexorably changing the family, marriage patterns and child rearing worldwide
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/06/opinion/sex-drugs-and-poverty-in-red-and-blue-america.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=c-column-top-span-region®ion=c-column-top-span-region&WT.nav=c-column-top-span-region&_r=1
Muskogee population as of 2013 us census 38,863.
Baltimore population for the same time 622,104.
Seriously you are comparing these two cities… Makes sense…
jharp,
Thanks again for the entertainment. Way too funny coming from someone who keeps running the false meme that its Democrats who’ve ruined America’s c-i-t-i-e-s.
I’m sorry you ignored the title, “Sex, Drugs and Poverty in Red and Blue America.”
I doubt it’s enough, but here’s remedial help. Red usually means rural areas. Rural always mean low population density. Blue usually means urban. Urban almost always means high population density. Percentage, “in mathematics, a percentage is a number or ratio expressed as a fraction of 100.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percentage
You reap what you sow, “West Texas school chlamydia outbreak may never have happened: State health officials tell the Guardian that they do not know where figure that 20 students had sexually transmitted infection came from”
“The superintendent of tiny Crane independent school district in west Texas told a local news outlet that as many as 20 students out of Crane high school’s 300 had the sexually transmitted infection, and that the district may consider a new sexual education program as a result. The district currently teaches abstinence-only sex education, over a three-day course in the fall. However, state health officials, who local media cited as telling the superintendent about the outbreak, told the Guardian they do not know where the figure came from.
“I can tell you there were three confirmed cases of chlamydia reported to us within the past couple of weeks from Crane County,” said Christine Mann, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of State Health Services. Mann also expressed frustration at the rapid spread of inaccurate information about cases in the county.”
…
“Further, Texas has higher chlamydia rates than the rest of the United States, on average, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control.”
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/may/07/west-texas-school-chlamydia-outbreak-may-never-have-happened
What’s worse, that the school district is wrong, or the Texas Health Services is wrong, or are both wrong?
How do you protect the public health of your kids if you can’t even collect accurate data?
Congratulations, the shameless and completely undeserved self promotion in your response to nq, “Boom Shaka Laka,” is why you’re the Gorgeous George of BB.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorgeous_George
John, totally lost on you, myself and nobody I know who belongs to any political persuasion is for chlamydia.
And of course Totally lost on you, myself and nobody NON know’s who belongs to any political persuasion is for abortions.
Well as we all know any argument can be made regarding statistics. Numbers don’t lie, but spun in the right light they can make a compelling argument for either side of a debate.
I would look at this blog post and think, wow Republicans understand that trying to end the cycle of welfare would be a good thing. Seems counter intuitive to take away a freebie from people that vote for you… Never NEVER would a liberal take that approach.
P.S. African American’s make up approximately 12% of the U.S. population but account for approximately 32% of ALL the welfare recipients in the same U.S. of A.
jharp,
Wrong as usual. The biggest welfare queens are on Wall Street.
“Bank Of America Dumps $75 Trillion In Derivatives On U.S. Taxpayers With Federal Approval”
http://seekingalpha.com/article/301260-bank-of-america-dumps-75-trillion-in-derivatives-on-u-s-taxpayers-with-federal-approval
To put $75 trillion in perspective, US GDP in 2012 was around $16.5 trillion. We blew a lot more than the $6 trillion they’re claiming in Iraq and Afghanistan. Social Security’s Trust Fund is around $2.3 trillion. Bank of America is just one Wall Street bank. They all have derivative exposure. I’ve seen estimates of $700 trillion, but I don’t think anyone knows.
W/R/T what you wrote about the descendants of the slaves, it’s because you and the rest of the white supremacists keep running away from accountability, “The Case for Reparations.” http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/05/the-case-for-reparations/361631/
If you find anything lacking in his research, please quote it. So far, I haven’t found anyone who can dispute his conclusions. Look on the bright side, with the new DNA testing you may be related to folks who will be receiving reparations, “The First Family: A New Glimpse of Michelle Obama’s White Ancestors.”
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/06/22/us/first-lady-family-q-and-a.html?_r=0
“The Case For Reparations”
“Two hundred fifty years of slavery. Ninety years of Jim Crow. Sixty years of separate but equal. Thirty-five years of racist housing policy. Until we reckon with our compounding moral debts, America will never be whole.
And if thy brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee. And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty: thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress: of that wherewith the LORD thy God hath blessed thee thou shalt give unto him. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee: therefore I command thee this thing today.
— Deuteronomy 15: 12–15
Besides the crime which consists in violating the law, and varying from the right rule of reason, whereby a man so far becomes degenerate, and declares himself to quit the principles of human nature, and to be a noxious creature, there is commonly injury done to some person or other, and some other man receives damage by his transgression: in which case he who hath received any damage, has, besides the right of punishment common to him with other men, a particular right to seek reparation.
— John Locke, “Second Treatise”
I. “So That’s Just One Of My Losses”
Clyde Ross was born in 1923, the seventh of 13 children, near Clarksdale, Mississippi, the home of the blues. Ross’s parents owned and farmed a 40-acre tract of land, flush with cows, hogs, and mules. Ross’s mother would drive to Clarksdale to do her shopping in a horse and buggy, in which she invested all the pride one might place in a Cadillac. The family owned another horse, with a red coat, which they gave to Clyde. The Ross family wanted for little, save that which all black families in the Deep South then desperately desired—the protection of the law.
…”
Oh john you almost made it a week without referencing your go to Wall Street fat cat routine congratulations wow
And you are batting a thousand in failing to post even one relevant or factual comment since this moniker of yours appeared at BB.
Free market capitalism assures economic inequality and guarantees unequal and inadequate access to life liberty and property on so many levels. We cannot begrudge these poor Republicans whatever sustenance that might be required.
Oh NON!
Forever and ever this will always be my favorite quote from you: “Totally lost on you, myself and nobody I know who belongs to any political persuasion is for abortions.”
Anytime I get sad I’ll think about the day I opened up this blog and read that statement! Only in your mind could you possibly post that drivel.
Lets try this: Totally lost on you NON, myself and nobody I know who belongs to ANY political persuasion is for taking away monies from needy people.
Oh yeah! Boom Shaka Laka! There you have it.
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/03/29/1798021/as-gop-seeks-cuts-to-child-nutrition-programs-democratic-rep-pushes-to-expand-school-lunches/
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2015/05/01/3653919/wisconsin-food-stamps-shellfish/
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2014/06/house_gop_wants_to_cut_michelle_obama_s_healthy_school_lunches_these_republicans.html
http://www.politicususa.com/2014/05/22/house-republicans-limit-school-lunch-program-rural-white-kids.html
I know you didn’t just put up a bunch of links to disprove my statement about taking monies from needy people…
‘Cause if you did it would mean you are the biggest liar of all time by posting your now famous “Totally lost on you, myself and nobody I know who belongs to any political persuasion is for abortions.” quote…
Remember that doozy? Shocking.
Correction: 2013 Census Bureau estimated Black population at 14.2% of 42 Million total USA population.
http://blackdemographics.com/
Trademark doesn’t know the difference between food stamps and welfare.
http://host.madison.com/news/opinion/column/ej_dionne/e-j-dionne-jr-a-moment-for-the-politically-toxic/article_458d0dc9-aa9c-5902-bef9-f372118b485e.html#utm_source=host.madison&utm_campaign=/email/captimes_news/&utm_medium=email&utm_content=headline
The above article regarding a recent “poverty summit” is particularly relevant to this topic. It is noted that it is encouraging the Catholic Church and Evangelicals are calling attention to the problem without regard to race or politics or excluding the government’s efforts. It is also encouraging that the President of AEI, “…urging his fellow conservatives to ‘declare peace on the safety net’.” and also suggesting they treat the poor “as our brothers an sisters” and not as “liabilities to manage.”
Also, Pope Francis has asked in May, “That, rejecting the culture of indifference, we may care for our neighbor’s who suffer, especially the sick and the poor.”
It doesn’t sound, as some here advocate, that we should “Abolish Welfare.”
Agree.
Trademark doesn’t like against Christians.
Matthew 25
41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
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.
@John Casper, perhaps trademark and jharp are non-believers which is their Constitutional right.
Or maybe they are unaware of Mark 12 and that “you shall love your neighbor as yourself” which also means
even if they are black, brown, yellow, albino, or whatever.
Our local trolls do seem to have a low opinion and/or indifference to the economic plight of people who are at the other end of the 1%, especially if they are not “pink” as one brown comedian referred to white people.
Duane12 I’m not a racist. You don’t know me. To suggest that the police officer would not have acted to defend his life if the assailent in question was WHITE rather than BLACK is idiotic on its face. I will say this much. IF a white man breaks into my home and threatens my family I will do whatever is necessary to protect them. Shooting to KILL the intruder being the optimal goal. If the same individual was black, brown, yellow or pink I would do the same.
I’m happy that a convicted FELON that was in the act of committing more Felonies was neutralized. I could give a crap if he was black, white or blue. His early demise was of his own doing.
And the economics of their situation did NOT prevent them from purchasing large quantaties of ILLEGAL drugs. Interesting how all the criminals ALWAYS have money to get their DRUGS and DRINKS on.
Could you kindly stick to the topic or stfu. “Their,” situation is our situation and is the truth of what is going down in our society. Claiming you are not a part of the problem testifies to your willful ignorance of the issue and makes you complicit in the severity of the situation presently.
In the land of plenty, there should be no want from any quarter.
jharp,
Can you elaborate on how you define a “white” person?
Do you consider “Jews” to be “white?”
Given her treatment of Irish Catholics in Northern Ireland, Margaret Thatcher didn’t consider them to be “white”? Do you agree?
What about my Polish ancestors? Hitler didn’t consider them to be “white”? Do you?
What about the Italians? Do Italians into the “white” club?
What about the Spanish? So for example, do you consider Jessica Alba to be “white”? If Jessica’s in the “white” club, is NY Yankee, Alex Rodriguez, in too?
What about the First Lady, Michelle Obama? Her DNA confirmed that she’s got a lot of relatives who self-identify as “white.”
If there’s a disagreement about someone, who claims to be “white”, is there a court of “whiteness” that adjudicates ethnic purity?
Thanks in advance?
John, sometimes I can barely comprehend what you are trying to suggest or imply with these little diatribes that you go on.
How do I “define” white? I haven’t put too much thought into it. Truthfully, the originator of this blog post used the term “white” so I followed suit. Dictionary.com defines white in this manner: white
adjective
adjective: white; comparative adjective: whiter; superlative adjective: whitest; adjective: White
1.
of the color of milk or fresh snow, due to the reflection of most wavelengths of visible light; the opposite of black.
“a sheet of white paper”
synonyms:
colorless, unpigmented, bleached, natural; More
snowy, milky, chalky, ivory
“a clean white bandage”
•
snowy, gray, silver, silvery, hoary, grizzled
“white hair”
•
approaching the color white; very pale.
“her face was white with fear”
synonyms:
pale, pallid, wan, ashen, bloodless, waxen, chalky, pasty, washed out, drained, drawn, ghostly, deathly
“her face was white with fear”
•
(of a plant) having white flowers or pale-colored fruit.
•
(of a tree) having light-colored bark.
•
(of wine) made from white grapes, or dark grapes with the skins removed, and having a yellowish color.
•
British
(of coffee or tea) served with milk or cream.
•
(of glass) transparent; colorless.
•
(of bread) made from a light-colored, sifted, or bleached flour.
2.
belonging to or denoting a human group having light-colored skin (chiefly used of peoples of European extraction).
“a white farming community”
synonyms:
Caucasian, European
“the early white settlers”
•
of or relating to white people.
“white Australian culture”
3.
historical
counterrevolutionary or reactionary.
noun
noun: white; noun: White
1.
white color or pigment.
“garnet-red flowers flecked with white”
•
white clothes or material.
“he was dressed from head to foot in white”
•
white clothes, especially as worn for playing tennis, or as naval uniform, or in the context of washing.
plural noun: whites
“wash whites separately”
•
white wine.
plural noun: whites
•
the player of the white pieces in chess or checkers.
•
the white pieces in chess.
•
a white thing, in particular the white ball (the cue ball) in billiards.
•
the outer part (white when cooked) that surrounds the yolk of an egg; the albumen.
•
white bread.
“tuna on white”
2.
the visible pale part of the eyeball around the iris.
3.
a member of a light-skinned people, especially one of European extraction.
4.
a white or cream butterfly that has dark veins or spots on the wings. It can be a serious crop pest.
verb
archaic
verb: white; 3rd person present: whites; past tense: whited; past participle: whited; gerund or present participle: whiting
1.
paint or turn (something) white.
“your passion hath whited your face”
I hope this helps you with this obvious struggle you are having. I’m sorry if using the term “White” is homophobic, sexist, racist, or related to nazis in some way that I previously was unaware of. Have a wonderful day!
JHarp, you should have quit after, “John, sometimes I can barely comprehend.”
You wrote, “I’m sorry if using the term “White” is homophobic, sexist, racist, or related to nazis in some way that I previously was unaware of.”
1. Since you claim to be sorry, are you making restitution?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restitution
2. What does “whiteness,” however you define it, have to do with sexual orientation?
3. What does “whiteness,” however you define it, have to do with sexism?
4. Are you claiming not to have understood before this thread that white supremacists claim superiority over other ethnic groups?
#1 Nope I’m not restituting anything.
#2 Nothing, I think.
#3 Not sure there is a connection there either.
#4 That is an understanding that I understood. Not sure what the point of that is.
Have a nice day!
jharp,
You wrote, “#1 Nope I’m not restituting anything.”
You’re admitting what you wrote about being “sorry” was false?
You wrote, “#2 Nothing, I think.”
You’re admitting that what you wrote about “white” being homophobic was wrong?
You wrote: “#3 Not sure there is a connection there either.”
You’re admitting that what you wrote about “white” being sexist was wrong?
You wrote “#4 “That is an understanding that I understood. Not sure what the point of that is.”
The point is that throughout history, ethnic cleansing has always had an economic element, “The Case For Reparation.”
http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/05/the-case-for-reparations/361631/
You wingnuts continue to wage war on the “pro-development” economic principles that launched the Republican party and made America a haven for victims of ethnic cleansing from all over the world. Since you’re clueless about it, try the reading the long brutal, history of the British “cleansing” the Irish. Call your heroes, Charlie Sykes, Mark Belling and the rest, tell them about Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president. While dwarfed by Emancipation, President Lincoln’s Homestead Act of 1862,
“…allowed any citizen, including single women and freed slaves, to take possession of virtually any unoccupied 160-acre tract of public land, for a $12 registration and filing fee. Live in it for five years, build a house and farm the land, and it was yours for just an additional $5 “proving” fee. Over time, the Homestead Act helped to settle some 10 percent of the entire land area of the continental United States. Senator Justin Morrill’s (R-VT) 1862 land-grant college act awarded each state a bequest of public lands which they could sell to finance state colleges focused on the agricultural and industrial arts. No other country had conceived the notion of educating farmer and mechanic, and the Morrill Act school are still the foundation of the state university systems.
The 1862 Pacific Railway Act made yet another lavish grant of public lands to finance a railway line from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean, a dream of the pro-development party for more than twenty years. The undertaking was still at the very limits of the current technology; the act needed several revisions to get the financing right; and the whole project was plagued by scandal. But the railroad was actually completed more or less as its promoters promised and surprisingly close to the original schedule; over time its development justified the airiest dreams of its supporters.”
(From “THE TYCOONS: How Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Jay Gould, and J.P. Morgan Invented the American Super Economy,” by Charles R. Morris; Henry Holt and Company (2005) page 10).
Republicans used to understand that capitalism runs on sales, that the real “job creators,” are consumers with MONEY to spend.
“Without spending–there are no sales;
Without sales–there are no profits;
Without profits–there is no demand for workers;
Without demand for workers–there is no job creation;
and without job creation–there is no recovery!”
@ptcherneva
Since all you guys worship Wall Street, why won’t you listen to what the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Beardsley Ruml, wrote in 1946, “(Federal) Taxes For Revenue Are Obsolete.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/warren-mosler/taxes-for-revenue-are-obs_b_542134.html
As I keep reminding you, the biggest welfare queens, the CEO’s on Wall Street, have already figured this out: “Bank Of America Dumps $75 Trillion In Derivatives On U.S. Taxpayers With Federal Approval”
http://seekingalpha.com/article/301260-bank-of-america-dumps-75-trillion-in-derivatives-on-u-s-taxpayers-with-federal-approval
To put $75 trillion in perspective, US GDP in 2012 was around $16.5 trillion. We blew a lot more than the $6 trillion they’re claiming in Iraq and Afghanistan. Social Security’s Trust Fund is around $2.3 trillion. Bank of America is just one Wall Street bank. They all have derivative exposure. I’ve seen estimates of $700 trillion, but I don’t think anyone knows.
Please note, neither Ruml nor the legions of economists and hedge fund managers, who subscribe to what’s called Modern Monetary Theory, are saying federal taxes are obsolete. They are not. In the highly unlikely event that U.S. could have demand-pull inflation (too many dollars chasing too few goods) or price instability, among several functions of federal taxes, an important one to consider at such a time is levy federal taxes to “manage aggregate demand.”
We currently have tremendous demand-pull inflation in the art market, “Picasso painting breaks auction record at $179.3m
Read more at http://www.9news.com.au/world/2015/05/16/08/28/picasso-breaks-auction-record-at-179-3m#X0gZBqdWxPPIB2wk.99” http://www.9news.com.au/world/2015/05/16/08/28/picasso-breaks-auction-record-at-179-3m , but Sykes, Belling, and the rest of the corporate media won’t dare talk about it, because it’s such a clear sign that the elites have an even bigger piece of the economic pie than they had a decade ago.
Unlike state and local taxes, which fund state and local governments, the federal government does not need federal tax revenue to provision itself. Fiscal illiterates, such as President Obama, and most Republicans and Democrats, who claim we’re borrowing dollars from China and our grandchildren, are wrong in a way that is lethal. The federal “government deficit = the non-government surplus to the penny.” Please explain to Sykes, Belling, and the rest, that the bigger the government’s surplus of dollars, the fewer dollars there are for everyone else.
Sykes and Belling should be talking about bringing back the full holiday on both sides of the federal payroll tax (FICA). That’s the place to start to put dollars back in the hands of workers and their employers. Unfortunately, they have to make clear that this is not a trick to defund Social Security. After that they can start lowering federal income and corporate taxes on the 99.9%. I believe federal income and corporate taxes on the elites should stay very high, because they’re using their wealth to control both parties. See the John Doe investigation and their buying the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Conway’s excellent in podcast.
@devilradio @prwatch @brendan_fischer talked #JohnDoeWalker before the WI SC, and what recent releases tell us about Walker’s… http://fb.me/8rBNNsJZ9
Suggest you read the entire 2.5 pages in the pdf below.
“Should the government spend willy-nilly on whatever it pleases since it doesn’t face involuntary default?” and the answer to that question is most definitely NO. Not all deficits are created equal: some create more inequality and more rentier income, as it seems to be the case in the current crisis. Others can cause inflation. Yet others can directly create jobs, public investments, and productive capacity without generating inflationary pressures. In sovereign currency nations, a truly responsible government spending is one that is measured bot by the debt-(or deficit)-to GDP ratios, but by the real impact of that spending on the economy–job creation, poverty alleviation, stable prices, income distribution, social goods provisioning are all good measures for assessing how responsible government policy has been.”
http://pavlina-tcherneva.net/2-key-charts.pdf
After getting federal tax relief, the 99.9% need a lot more federal SPENDING on health care, education, and GREEN infrastructure. Those investments that drive productivity increases. That drives the creation of wealth and increases in the standard of living. Another benefit of federal spending, or tax cuts for the 99%, they are two sides of the same coin, is that it puts people back to work and that enables them to pay their state and local taxes. That’s how you repair state and local budgets.
Correction, Brendan Fischer, not “Conway” is excellent in the podcast.