Do you remember the fiscal cliff? It certainly had its share of media attention. Since then, we’ve been preoccupied with the Republican Sequester, the Republican Shutdown, the Republican Hostage Crisis over the Debt Limit, and thank goodness, the Republican Cave-in. There is another cliff that we hit today, and our failure to address it will cause millions of Americans to suffer needlessly, thanks to the Republican War on the Poor.
As Karoli noted in her rant this week, we’ve got the corporate media for the most part out there breathlessly reporting on the failures of the web site for the rollout of "Obamacare" and Congress wasting our time with more witch hunts, and what are they ignoring? Devastating cuts to the food stamp (otherwise known as SNAP) program.
Media Matters did a report on the lack of media coverage on those cuts which are about to take place Nov. 1st, and the damage and negative impact they’re going to have on our economy: REPORT: The Food Stamp Cuts The Media Won’t Tell You About.
As they’ve discussed in other reporting as well, what coverage we have had from the likes of Fox and their ilk has been dishonest B.S. like this, and this doesn’t even begin to nibble at the sheer volume of attacks on the working poor that are leveled on that network, week after week, month after month on their so-called "business block" every Saturday morning. It’s a literal cesspool of this type of garbage and worse: Fox’s Shameless Misrepresentation Of SNAP Recipients.
Chris Hayes and his guests gave us what we rarely see in the media these days, an honest look at and discussion on the devastating impact these cuts are going to have on real people’s lives who are hanging on by a thread and cannot afford to have their services cut any more…
Inserted from <Crooks and Liars>
The rest is worth the read. Click through.
Here’s the included video in two clips.
America is the richest nation in the world, but the way our so-called "free", but really captive market distributes wealth is the most inequitable in our nation’s history. Just think how many people we could feed if we could just cut welfare for the 0.1%! How sad it is that Republicans left the war on hunger to wage war on the hungry. They are simply without shame!
While I support calls for a hunger commission, I see no solution coming from such a body if Republicans are included in equal numbers.
14 Responses to “The Hunger Cliff”
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I think it was on mercola.com earlier today that I saw a link to some food specialists who have been showing how to provide nutritious meals on the Food Stamp provision of one dollar and a few cents per meal (ONE DOLLAR PER MEAL AND THE GOP ARE CUTTING IT???). I cannot write here of my utter contempt for the GOP/TP and their gross, repulsive, hypocritical, greedy, self-obsessed selfishness as I don't think there are sufficiently polite yet accurate words in the lexicon…. yeugh!! The Crooks and Liars video was excellent – thank you TC.
Fox imply that the poor should not have refrigerators – in that case Fox would presumably deride the poor for letting their food which was not held in refrigerated conditions go bad and cause illness. Fox really are beneath contempt, they truly are! It is Congressman Jim McGovern who is fighting to help the poor in the second clip. The programme of Food Stamps etc is 80 billion dollars – nearly 10 billion of which is caused by the huge corporations who refuse to pay their staff a decent wage who then have to have food stamps provided by ordinary tax payers. I love the people in the second clip! Joel Berg, Margarette Purvis and Jim McGovern – God bless them and all like them! Thanks TC for bringing this to our attention – they said this was the first tv programme to even acknowledge that this is happening – God help the victims of this.
I can find words, but my lexicon is less polite than yours. 🙂
You won't find excuses more steeped in BS than that one.
Add my utter contempt to yours, Pat – too bad contempt isn't edible – we'd have more than enough to feed everyone. On CNN today, they appeared to be blaming Obama for this mess, too, saying he took money from one program for another and so that's why there's isn't any money for food stamps. All I can say about that is that it's good I'm not a violent, crazy person with an AK-47 in my closet….
Dear Arielle, the name of the political game is "Blame it on Obama". They don't even say President Obama.
The RepubliThugs don't care who can't afford to eat as long as they can continue to live high on the hog.
Arielle — "…they appeared to be blaming Obama for this mess…"
We call it blacktracking . . . daring to govern while Black.
The Washington Weenies are a bunch of insaniTea guzzling pissants!
To be truthful, as part of "paygo" Nancy Pelosi set the renewal date of SNAP up one year in order to fund school lunchesz for children in 2009. Her intent was that SNAP renewal would be automaticly extended. She did not inticape that so many would brelieve Republican lies in 2010.
Pass No farm bill that leaves people hungry….
That's what I said, Richard! 🙂
Forty seven million people in poverty! What a sad statistic for the richest country in the world. The congressman who received 3.5 million in farm subsidies but calls for reduction in Food Stamps is part of the problem. The wealthy increase their wealth on the backs of the poor. If Wal Mart and McDonald's for example paid a living wage, that would significantly reduce the number of people on Food Stamps. If my sister and I could not assist our mother, she would be living in poverty. This is not only sad, it is disgusting.
Very well said, Edie!
Dialogue (American spelling dialog) — (noun) conversation, interview, discourse, discussion, exchange of ideas
'Dialogue' is a word that I have heard the Washington Weenies (aka Republicanus/Teabaggers Congress critters) using a lot, predominately in the context of the POTUS and Democrats not being willing to discuss matters and negotiate. But 'di' presupposes that the conversation is between two people or groups. With the Washington Weenies, any discussion is one way only . . . their way.
Does the US need to have a national dialog on poverty, jobs and the minimum wage? Absolutely! But it won't happen as long as the Washington Weenies have the ability to spread their insaniTea poison. They are proving that they don't give a rat's ass about anyone but the 1% and corporations.
When the majority of SNAP recipients are the elderly and children, those who cannot go out and "pull themselves up by their boot straps", for the Washington Weenies to say SNAP recipients are lazy slackers is unconscionable.
In a segment of The Daily Show, "Jon Stewart To Fox Hosts: F*ck You For Mocking The Poor" http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/jon-stewart-rips-fox-hannity-making-light , Jon opines"
Admittedly, this was about the shutdown, but it seems, when it comes to the poor, the country is always in shutdown mode.
Great clip. Kudos to you and Stewart!
The false piety of the Washington Weenies and their followers really chafes at me. These idiots raill against the poor, the sick, women etc and they do it quoting scripture, but they know nothing. They have never understood Jesus' words.
Matthew 25:40
And the King shall answer and say to them, Truly I say to you, Inasmuch as you have done it to one of the least of these my brothers, you have done it to me.
Matthew 25:45
"He will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
AMEN!