Children

As Republicans Push For Cuts To Food Stamp Program, Poverty Rises, Particularly In Red (Republican) States!

Ronald 1 Comment

The Republican Party is determined to cut the Food Stamp program as a boondoggle, wasteful spending, and used by recipients, it is claimed, in an abusive manner.

The reality, however, is that about one out of five Americans in polls have stated that they cannot afford their necessary food supply in the midst of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

And the irony is that inability to afford food, and the need for food stamps therefore, is most prevalent in the RED or Republican states of the South and Border states–including Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, West Virginia and Louisiana!

So it is RED states that suffer from hunger, and the reality is that about 50 percent of the food stamp recipients are children, and another 8 percent are elderly.

Statistics show that 18 percent of recipients have no income at all; 41 percent have half the poverty level income; and only 14 percent have incomes above the poverty level. Also, less than 10 percent get a welfare payment along with food stamps. And the assets of these poor souls is less than $100 in savings per family!

Is this the best we can do, and is this what the Republican Party wishes to stand for–to undermine the groups and states that vote for them in state and national elections?

This is a disgrace, which is an understatement!

A Day To Celebrate: 77th Anniversary Of Social Security Act Signed Into Law By Franklin D. Roosevelt!

Ronald Leave a comment

Today is indeed a day to celebrate, the 77th anniversary of the signing of the Social Security Act into law, in 1935, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, his signature domestic accomplishment among many of his New Deal programs.

Social Security gave dignity to the elderly, to widows, to children and orphans of a deceased worker, and to the disabled and handicapped!

It gave a sense of security to people at vulnerable times in their lives, and it came decades after similar actions in Germany, Great Britain, and France, the other major industrialized nations!

It has worked very well, and is only seen as in trouble because the Social Security fund has been raided constantly by reckless Congresses!

The future of Social Security long term could be guaranteed by raising the limit of $110,000 income being taxed to be what Medicare is, an unlimited income being taxed!

Also, if unearned income was taxed as earned income is, it would have no problems for an eternity of time.

But the Republican Party, most members opposed at the time to the legislation,; then having Barry Goldwater in the 1960s wanting to destroy it; and now Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan continuing the assault, makes this election a battle to preserve this key to the social safety net, and to promote common decency toward those who depend on it, and have contributed to it over their work lives!

Franklin D. Roosevelt should be saluted for his great leadership in guaranteeing a dignified life to those who, at different times and situations in their lives, need protection from government. This is not something that churches and synagogues and charities could possibly provide on an adequate level!

The 2012 Farm Bill: Favoring Big Agriculture, But Cutting Food Stamps As “Waste, Fraud And Abuse”!

Ronald 1 Comment

The 2012 Farm Bill is becoming the center of controversy as House Republicans are proposing major cuts in Food Stamps, while favoring Sugar, Cotton, and Dairy producers with subsidies that are not truly needed, as farm prices are better, and farm income is at historic levels!

So again, the Republicans are trashing food stamps, as “waste, fraud, and abuse”, while not seeing the same with Big Agriculture!

The fact that poor children are the majority on food stamps, along with the elderly and single mothers, has no effect on the mean spirited Tea Party Republicans!

They would argue that some people on food stamps “abuse” the system, and no one is denying that there is likely some abuse, a few percent, maybe, but there is far greater abuse by agricultural interests who do not need subsidies in good times, but have lobbyists who can fight for them, while poor people, who would be denied necessary nutrition, do not have that advantage.

The fact that school breakfasts and school lunches for the poorest children will be cut dramatically has no effect on the Republicans in Congress.

The fact that lack of good nutrition can stunt the growth and health of children has no effect either.

The fact that the food stamp program is a minor part of the Farm bill and farm programs does not phase these members of the majority in the House of Representatives.

No, they would rather trash the poor, kick them down when they are down, and lack concern for children that they constantly fight for to be born, no matter what, but once they are born, to hell with what happens to them and their mothers, and also to hell with the elderly, who have their lives shortened by poor nutrition, leading to bad health, as well!

And yet, these Republicans are good church goers on the Sabbath!

What hypocrisy, which Jesus Christ would condemn, as he cared about the poor, and did not see religion as based on the acquisition of wealth, and the promotion of selfishness and greed, and lack of concern for thy fellow human being!

The Wisconsin Disaster And What It May Portend

Ronald 2 Comments

The failure last Tuesday to remove Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker from office by recall is a major blow to the labor movement and to progressivism.

It is a warning sign that workers, whether union or non union, whether public service workers or those employed by private employers, can expect that many of the hard won reforms of the 20th century could be taken away by Republican Governors, a Republican controlled Congress and a Republican President in the future.

It is a sign also of the power of wealthy corporate interests to destroy our political system, with the assistance of the right wing Supreme Court which allowed the Citizens United decision in 2010, which has now led to the right wing takeover in many states, in the House of Representatives, and was able to help Scott Walker survive, despite the abuse of power by him and his Republican colleagues in the state legislature. The ability of wealthy individuals to contribute large amounts of money without limit distorted the whole political process!

The fact that Mitt Romney was able to raise more money last month than Barack Obama for the first time is another danger sign that everything progressives and liberals have fought for could be going down the drain!

It is hard not to be very pessimistic about the short term and long term future, but those who believe in the rights of workers, women, minorities, children, the elderly, and wish to promote education, health care and the environment, cannot sit back and mope over the results!

If the forces for democracy decide to give up, instead of mobilizing for the upcoming campaign, and if they do not convince citizens how important it is to vote for their own futures, then indeed the country will be moving closer to a form of corporate fascism that will destroy the great progress made over a long period of generations of hard fought struggles!

The Problem Of Autism And The Health Care Issue: NOT A Time For Retreat!

Ronald Leave a comment

April is Autism Awareness Month, and it is truly alarming as we learn that the number of children diagnosed with Autism of any type is now one of 88 children, and one of 54 boys!

The problem is that we are now becoming aware of this crisis, just as the move is on to destroy the Obama Health Care legislation, which the Supreme Court has the potential to do in June, and if not, the Paul Ryan plan to cut Medicare and Medicaid could, if it became law, do much the same thing in a different way.

Health care expenses cause more bankruptcies and poverty than anything else, and this nation has been unwilling to come to grips with the reality of brain disorders, not only Autism related problems, but also the effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder on military personnel, and the effects of Bi Polar Disorder and other forms of depression, which have a massive deleterious effect on millions of Americans, most of it in silence.

If there is a physical problem with health, insurance covers it, but in so many cases, mental disorders, whether genetic or environmental, are not covered, and put great stress on millions of people annually, and undermines their ability to cope and to deal with the high unpaid bills involved in trying to deal with the problems they, or their loved ones, face.

This is not the time to say that we do not have to worry about health care for those who do not have it, but rather that the entire nation must face the crisis in health care, both related to Autism and other mental problems, but also that of the poor, the elderly, and average Americans who are being destroyed financially, as well as economically, by these problems.

The Largest Percentage Of Homeless Children Since The Great Depression And The Republican Response Nationwide: Cut Programs Which Benefit Children!

Ronald Leave a comment

As Sixty Minutes on CBS reports, the growing number of homeless children who are living in weekly motels or in cars is reaching an alarming level, soon to be an estimated 25 percent of children of all races and ethnicities, the greatest since the Great Depression, and in actual number an all time high!

And what is the response of Republican Governors and the Republicans in control of the House of Representatives? Cut spending on education, health care, housing, nutrition, and all other programs, while making major concessions to corporations and rich people by cutting taxes and regulations!

We are seeing the true nature of the GOP! They DO NOT CARE about the effect on children of their policies, and they DO NOT CARE about anything but gaining the financial backing of the elite upper class!

If anyone with a rational mind had doubts, the GOP takeover in many states and the House of Representatives is proving just how nasty and vicious they really are! They do not care what happens to the poor or middle class, and are presiding over the greatest increase in poverty ever, and nonchalantly go about their business of being heartless and insensitive!

Speaker of the House John Boehner may cry when interviewed, but he fails to cry for what is most important: damage to the future generation that will grow up to hate their government for doing nothing to make their childhood a positive experience!

Children cannot be blamed for the misfortunes of their parents, and should NEVER be victims of a political party which only cares they be born, and then says in basic terms, to hell with you as you are now on your own, and don’t expect government to intervene in your behalf!

Poverty Growing Among America’s Children!

Ronald Leave a comment

A recent USA TODAY article details the fact that more than one out of every five children in America in in poverty, and that it is the highest such percentage in two decades! 🙁

Eighteen percent do not have a secure source of food, and a half million are homeless! 🙁

This is, unfortunately, a state of affairs that leads to more health and education problems long term! Poverty also has a long range effect psychologically on children who suffer from it while they are growing up! 🙁

One would think that this would be an issue of urgency, but at least to the conservative Heritage Foundation, it is not, as one of its researchers states that poor families receive food stamps and housing assistance, although he does not point out that these aids are far from adequate! But the same researcher claims that government programs are ineffective in making lives of children better, and are just an excuse for more government programs and spending!

Somehow missing from this researcher’s assertions is any compassion for the harm done to children who are in poverty, and instead the emphasis on attacking government, even though private charities and groups have been proved inadequate in dealing with the problem of hunger and poverty!