SAR #13308

We have lost our secrets, small and tawdry as they were.

The Takers: The general justification for cutting food stamp payments is that those who receive assistance are not required to work – they just take. Yeah, but 76% of SNAP households included a child, an elderly person, or a disabled person. 61% of SNAP families have a gross income under $14,648 for a family of three, another 18% make less than $19,500. These folks get an average monthly benefit of $133.85. 1 in 4 infants and school age children who will now be deprived of even more nutrition in order to satisfy those who hate little black kids and their often single parents – even though whites make up over 65% of America's poor. We should be talking about raising SNAP, not cutting it.

Moving On: In the 1970s, 65% of us lived in middle-income neighborhoods; today only 42% of us do. Some went to upscale areas, most did not. But the disappearance of the middle class and its shared values does not auger well for our political arrangements. It's hard to gain “the consent of the governed” if the governed don't talk with each other, much less understand one another. 
 
Another One Bites The Dust: Surveys show that the GOP talking point about how small businesses were being crucified by Obamacare is just that – a talking point. And while Fox and friends jabber on about how bad things are, 13% of small businesses plan to add health insurance to the benefits they offer their employees. 
 
Fox/Henhouse: Wall Street found that the Dodd-Frank financial reform enacted after the Too Big To Jail ruined the economy cut into their freedom to do the same things again, so they had Citigroup draw up a bill repealing most of the key elements. which their lackeys in Congress promptly passed.

Our Team: The Justice Department, in a paper entitled “Lawfulness of a Lethal Operation Directed Against a U.S. Citizen.” concluded that lethal operations against US citizens were lawful. And they found that the government need not possess specific intelligence indicating that an American citizen is actively engaged in a particular or active terror plot in order to be killed. Any questions?

Lollipops, Get Yer Lollipops: "Single-family rental securitization market boasts near trillion-dollar potential." If you liked Mortgage Backed Securities, you'll really love Rental-Payment Backed Securities, which get their funds from the same folks who didn't pay their mortgages earlier...

As If: Is Congress helping Wall Street loot your pension? Look at it this way, do you have a 401k? Do you work for a state or local government? Do you have to ask?

Shareholders: Subsidizing the paltry wages and minimum benefits the highly profitable fast food chains dole out to their indentured servants costs the taxpayer nearly $7 billion a year. It would be more honest to force McDonalds and friends to pay decent wages and benefits and charge $5 for a hamburger. Then the users of the services would pay for them directly.

Keeping On Keeping On: So, can you keep your insurance? Yes, if it's worth keeping. The ACA does not end plans that were in effect at the time the plan was passed – even if they do not meet the ACA's standards for coverage , The plans being terminated because they don't meet the minimal standards are plans that insurers introduced after the passage of the ACA, knowing that they would not meet the standards that would be put into law in 2014 but from which they could make a quick profit by bilking gullible enrollees - which Obamacare makes them stop doing.

Cautionary Tale: American capitalism is not working. The richest country in the history of the world ought to make sure to make sure its people at least have enough to eat. Yet 47 million Americans live in poverty while Warren Buffet is sitting on $40 billion in cash. Do you need a better argument against our current version of capitalism?

Porn O'Graph: Wonder where the yellow went?

The Parting Shot: