This week "Need To Know" brought up the question of dependency on Food Stamps (SNAP) as a means of refuting the charges made by various Republican candidates who argued that with "Obama as the Food Stamp President" he is seeking to increase dependency on government and destroying the motivation to work.
"Need To Know" went to various "working poor" families to show that they are not lazy "Welfare Queens" a la Ronald Reagan, but instead are hard working American's who's pay checks don't cover what is needed to live at an acceptable standard of living. food stamps heap their family eat as they still struggle with other costs, many of which are going up.
Watch Portraits of Hunger on PBS. See more from Need to Know.
I think that the segment on food stamps did a fair job in representing the cause of the working poor.
They did not have a spirit of "trying to get over" but instead had limited job options, would work more hours if they could but in the end needed a supplement.
With this framing on short term food stamp use the attack on the incumbent president as a "food Stamp President" is salacious. People who are caught up in a massive economic downturn are going to do what they need to do to feed their families.
The Goal Of Accurate Representation Of The Real World
The "attacks on poor" is a well worn political tactic. The mean spirited conservative launches the first volley. The bleeding heart liberal returns the indictment on his lack of sympathy and connectedness.
In my view the equal and opposite (if not greater) assault on the poor is going on right now but is not called out as such.
About 3 weeks ago "The Blacks" in Newark committed to having a 364 day protest for jobs. One week later when the "US Jobs Report" came out the Black Racial Services Machine were heard singing the praises of Obama for having created 250,000 jobs. Did the fate of the "Least Of These" change in one week? Or is it true that the agenda of the Black Racial Services machine is only tangentially concerned about the plight of "the Least of These" as so many of them also live in "Mission Accomplished" voting districts yet still struggle?
In their agenda to throw alms and praise at their venerated leaders feet, the Progressive-Left is seen singing praise of the improving economic results while necessarily spiking the total facts that might cause many to question the the comprehensiveness and sustainability of the recovery.
While we are told that the January 2012 Unemployment Rate has fallen down to 8.3% and that 3 million jobs have been created over some domain of time - many carefully avoid the key graphic that provides the necessary constraint on the use of percentages to achieve a desired engineered result that does not reflect reality.
The Labor Participation Rate is that check. If the Labor Participation Rate can be lowered as the bean counter aggressively attempts to remove people who have given up looking for work from the count they this can deflate the unemployment rate since less people who are unemployed are counted. With reference to "Need To Know" we should also note that those who are working part-time but who desire to work full time and/or who are full time but who are working a job that is substantially below their skill set - these people are also removed from the unemployment count.
What it all comes down to is one's AGENDA.
Is your agenda to fight in the 'Malcolm X Political Football Game" where your team is made to look good while the other is attacked as 'demons' , your team mates forced to prevent their stomachs from growling in their hunger because the noise will tip off the enemy?
OR is your agenda to provide the optimum balance of ORGANIC GROWTH while minimizing the use of GOVERNMENT FUNNY MONEY to spike economic results that ultimately will crash? The people are developed rather than merely fed.
I added the constraint of "organic growth" to the equation because some people are content at looking at the condition of being "well fed" without concern about the source of the nutrition and worse, the ability of the people to replicate this same end when they are left all alone, by themselves and needing to repeat or perish.
Why Are Your "Wins" So Much Of A "Loss" To Us?
It should them be reasonable to judge the strength of the economy by looking at the reduction of food stamps programs, not because "Welfare Queens" are piling in but instead as reasonable eligibility requirements are surpassed as individuals in families find gainful employment - the paring of these role should be used as yet another indicator of the strength of the economy.
Unfortunately the typical muckrakers have little intention to place a check on their ideological soul mates, preventing them from telling of the good news about the economy because the people on the street are still struggling. The words "Just imagine how bad things would be had John McCain had won" still sells equally as well as "Give Obama more time. Bush destroyed the economy worse than Obama had realized". Of course they don't like talking about Detroit, Newark and Cleveland where their enemies have been neutered but the economy still has suffered greatly.
The greater issue beyond food stamps is the detrimental effects of certain theories on government which seeks to compel more Americans to have their civic services distributed from the state, with the commensurate higher taxes to pay for it.
The claim that the voice in service delivery that market failure has produced drives justification for quasi-socialist solutions is a more substantive debate than the "Food Stamps President Debate". The motivation for this mindset is to camouflage the local failures of their theories by rolling out a "nationalized social justice" framework, "right-ifying" an increasing amount of services as part of a "national contract" that has been violated.
Ironically those who disparage capitalism can't bring themselves to see that the only reason why their nationalization schemes work (for now) is that the federal government has a magical printing press that allows their benevolence to work. While they receive the majority of their congregational support via the drive of "Tax The Rich!!!" the truth is that even the most aggressive "Tax The Rich Plan" would raise no more than $270 billion more per year. The present federal budget deficit is more than $1,200 billion. Can we agree that while this "Tax The Rich" charge is effective at riling up the ranks - it does not comprehensively address gaping spending excesses coming out of Washington DC (not to mention at the state level).
Organic Competency Development Via Strong Local Institutions
Some day once the United States is forced to face its deficit situation just as Europe is doing today, the need to cut back upon the spending that was said to be "stimulative" will be driven home in this country. These are not "jobs bills" they are "spending bills". The attempt is to allow us to retain a standard of living that our organic economic output has not afforded us.
We have already seen many checkpoints violated along the toll road of the struggle. The booths tat were erected where "the least of these" should have demanded earnest payments before continuing on. Instead they were compelled to believe that their activist agents where "team leaders", fighting for their interests every day.
If a group of people has no compulsion to check their own leadership then we have to conclude that the rank & file are complicit in the action.
Is your agenda to fight in the 'Malcolm X Political Football Game" where your team is made to look good while the other is attacked as 'demons' , your team mates forced to prevent their stomachs from growling in their hunger because the noise will tip off the enemy?
OR is your agenda to provide the optimum balance of ORGANIC GROWTH while minimizing the use of GOVERNMENT FUNNY MONEY to spike economic results that ultimately will crash? The people are developed rather than merely fed.
I added the constraint of "organic growth" to the equation because some people are content at looking at the condition of being "well fed" without concern about the source of the nutrition and worse, the ability of the people to replicate this same end when they are left all alone, by themselves and needing to repeat or perish.
Why Are Your "Wins" So Much Of A "Loss" To Us?
It should them be reasonable to judge the strength of the economy by looking at the reduction of food stamps programs, not because "Welfare Queens" are piling in but instead as reasonable eligibility requirements are surpassed as individuals in families find gainful employment - the paring of these role should be used as yet another indicator of the strength of the economy.
Unfortunately the typical muckrakers have little intention to place a check on their ideological soul mates, preventing them from telling of the good news about the economy because the people on the street are still struggling. The words "Just imagine how bad things would be had John McCain had won" still sells equally as well as "Give Obama more time. Bush destroyed the economy worse than Obama had realized". Of course they don't like talking about Detroit, Newark and Cleveland where their enemies have been neutered but the economy still has suffered greatly.
The greater issue beyond food stamps is the detrimental effects of certain theories on government which seeks to compel more Americans to have their civic services distributed from the state, with the commensurate higher taxes to pay for it.
The claim that the voice in service delivery that market failure has produced drives justification for quasi-socialist solutions is a more substantive debate than the "Food Stamps President Debate". The motivation for this mindset is to camouflage the local failures of their theories by rolling out a "nationalized social justice" framework, "right-ifying" an increasing amount of services as part of a "national contract" that has been violated.
Ironically those who disparage capitalism can't bring themselves to see that the only reason why their nationalization schemes work (for now) is that the federal government has a magical printing press that allows their benevolence to work. While they receive the majority of their congregational support via the drive of "Tax The Rich!!!" the truth is that even the most aggressive "Tax The Rich Plan" would raise no more than $270 billion more per year. The present federal budget deficit is more than $1,200 billion. Can we agree that while this "Tax The Rich" charge is effective at riling up the ranks - it does not comprehensively address gaping spending excesses coming out of Washington DC (not to mention at the state level).
Organic Competency Development Via Strong Local Institutions
Some day once the United States is forced to face its deficit situation just as Europe is doing today, the need to cut back upon the spending that was said to be "stimulative" will be driven home in this country. These are not "jobs bills" they are "spending bills". The attempt is to allow us to retain a standard of living that our organic economic output has not afforded us.
We have already seen many checkpoints violated along the toll road of the struggle. The booths tat were erected where "the least of these" should have demanded earnest payments before continuing on. Instead they were compelled to believe that their activist agents where "team leaders", fighting for their interests every day.
If a group of people has no compulsion to check their own leadership then we have to conclude that the rank & file are complicit in the action.
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