Breaking Paul Ryan continues to be an idiot.

First let’s remember that Paul Ryan is the House Budget Chairman, which makes me want to punch things. According to Igor Volsky for ThinkProgress, Ryan seems to think poor people are lazy, and all problems are caused by poor inner city men, think he’s alluding to anyone there? Apparently, Ryan appeared on Bill Bennett’s Morning in America, which as far as I can tell is just another conservative circle jerk, on Wednesday alluding to reforms Ryan is interested in such as work requirements for men “in our inner cities” and deal with the “real culture problem” in the inner city.

And, as we’ve discussed before, Ryan is trying to reinvent himself as the thinking man’s bigot. This time he cited Charles Murray, who is a social scientist who believes African-Americans are less intelligent then whites because of genetic differences and that poverty is a problem because “a lot of poor people are born lazy.” So he'd be a bigot if that isn't clear.

Beer me strength.  Ryan has release that report I wrote about early, and is expected to release the FY2015 budget with proposed reforms to social programs. *head desk*  Ryan said, “[W]e want people to reach their potential and so the dignity of work is very valuable and important and we have to re-emphasize work and reform our welfare programs, like we did in 1996.” He continues, “We have got this tailspin of culture, in our inner cities in particular, of men not working and just generations of men not even thinking about working or learning the value and the culture of work, and so there is a real culture problem here that has to be dealt with.”

Many programs have work requirements such as cash assistance, long-term unemployment insurance, and the Earned Income Tax Credit…but Ryan is probably talking about SNAP and probably the free lunch programs.

Alright, a review of 1996 Welfare Reform (PRWORA) was passed during the Clinton administration much to the delight of people who hate the poor everywhere and want to punish them for in fact being poor. That’s the subtitle in fine print, just kidding. It turned welfare into a block grant, which means each state gets what they get and no more, so if a state runs out too damn bad. Work requirements are required for most welfare cases, which are a variety of preapproved activities, including volunteer work. It was highly lobbied for by low-wage employers like Walmart and McDonald’s (singing a different tune now, but these people don’t want to pay a fair wage). Failure to comply with a work requirement results in a full family work sanction, which often closes the case for 30 days, even cases with children, so you know, no money for 30 days with kids, no big deal. Finally, the 60 month time limit, after 60 months you no longer qualify for cash assistance ever again. Cases that are child-only are exempt from this one. Also, in some states like Ohio if you have a child while receiving cash assistance that child doesn’t qualify for assistance until they turn 18. End Scene.

What we know since reform? Well, work requirements haven’t reduced poverty. They have contributed to the decrease in the number of people on the welfare rolls, but as mentioned above, the time limit has resulted in people being disconnected. Additionally, work requirements push recipients into low-wage work with high turnover so people cycle on and off welfare, arguably creating the illusion of fewer people. When the economy is bad work requirements are particularly ineffective because no jobs. We also know that work requirements push recipients into jobs with poor employment outcomes like lower wages, instability, etc. The jobs that have better outcomes have more success moving welfare recipients from welfare to sustainable employment, but these jobs are far and few between. Also, fun fact, it appears as those employers (NAICS) codes that have unions affiliated with them, even if the recipient isn’t part of the union, have better employment outcomes. Unfortunately, data to support this correlation is hard to find, with the whole, we don’t care once your off the rolls thought process. All of this has resulted in people in poverty being pushed even further down.

But let’s get back to what Ryan is saying: blame black men for poverty because they are lazy and shirking responsibility.  SHENANIGANS! I’m serious, we can’t blame black men for social problems when we incarcerate them at such a high rate. They would presumably be more active and work if employers couldn’t ask about felonies. I hate this kind of logic, look we’re going to oppress you guys, and then blame you for the problems resulting from that oppression. Secondly, his assertion that this poverty is a cultural flaw is lunacy. Poverty is a result from inequity, people don’t wake up and say “I’m going to be poor today” or” I’m going to be wealthy.” There is a culture to blame though, the one that favors capitalism and greed above everything and everyone else. However, when you have limited means and power then you aren’t part of this culture.

For real though, it is time Ryan stop talking about poverty because he looks like an idiot. Someone help him, I’m starting to feel bad for him.

House GOP votes to cut SNAP

These people are the worst. I just don’t understand. The Huffington Post had a piece by Arthur Delaney and Michael McAuliff on the cuts. As I mentioned earlier in the week they want to take $40 billion over the next ten years starting in 2014. This bill requires beneficiaries to pass income and asset tests to prove poverty. It would allow drug tests because that is working so well with welfare. It would allow states to deny all able-bodied adults who don’t work or enroll in training for at least 20 hours per week. So let’s see what these ignorant asshats had to say:

• Eric Cantor: “This bill is designed to give people a hand when they need it most. Most people don’t choose to be on food stamps. Most people want a job. Most people want to go out and be productive so that they can earn a living, so that they can support a family, so that they can have hope for a more prosperous future. They want what we want.”
• Tim Huelskamp: “If you’re a healthy adult and don’t have someone relying on you to care for them, you ought to earn the benefits you receive. Look for work. Start job training to improve you skills or do community service. But you can no longer sit on your couch or ride a surfboard like Jason in California [man profiled by Fox News, so completely true you guys, stop implying Fox is propaganda network] and expect the federal taxpayers to feed you.”
• Frank Lucas (feel his desperation for this bill to pass): “I admit to you, that has been an unusual process. But it remains my goal to get a five-year bill [farm bill] enacted. I’m doing everything possible to make sure that happens this year.” Continuing on to say, “We have a responsibility to get this done, and quite simply, and I repeat, quite simply, it shouldn’t be this hard to pass a bill that ensures all of us in this economy has enough to eat. And that’s what a farm bill does.”
• Steve Southerland: “Work is not a penalty. Work is a blessing.”

And what are the Democrats saying?

• Marcia Fudge (O-H-IO): Today’s exercise is nothing more than a waste of out time and an insult to every American in need. The fact that we are considering this legislation makes me question whether the Republican leadership even wants a farm bill.” She added, this bill “guts nutrition for those most in need and says to the poor, to hungry children, to the disabled, seniors and our veterans, ‘You don’t matter, you are not worthy of our help.’ They deserve better.”

These bastards need to loss their jobs. Let’s see what we can cut from the federal budget if these people who voted in favor of this bill wouldn’t collect a salary next year:

In 2021: 233 Republicans in the House.

11 in Leadership collecting $193,400 and 1 Speaker $233,500.

221 members collecting $174,000

This comes out to $40,804,900 for the Republicans.

For the Democrats $35,052,200. So if everyone in the house didn’t collect a salary this year we’d have $75,857,100 to put toward SNAP. And that is before their staff.

With staff: $128,261,368 in 2012. But I’m not heartless, staffers should make a salary because they didn’t actually vote against the poor, but in DC the minimum wage is $8.25, and the living wage bill was vetoed by Mayor Gray as you remember, but there is a bill to raise it to $10.25 so we’ll pay them for a 35 hour work week at $10.25 an hour. I know what you’re thinking, but they work so many more hours that that, yeah, but this is the Wal-mart way.

This comes out to $10.25*35*52= $18,655. And multiply that by the 5,336 staffers listed in 2009 is $99,543,080, which leaves $28,718,288 from what was spent on them this year. All of this would be $104,575,388 is government salaries from the House of Representatives. Think about adding the Senate and the White House. Obviously, this isn’t going to be effective, because if we paid staffers minimum wage, even an increased minimum they’d be in poverty. Secondly, this doesn’t raise enough money. In reality I’m in favor of cutting DoD spending. I just find these numbers astonishing while they attempt to starve the poor.

Aside, thirteen people were killed last night in Chicago in a mass shooting. After my post yesterday, and how the nation forgot to grieve for DC, we’re not grieving for Chicago either. The Chicago PD isn’t releasing any information at this point about the shooting. They did release some information about the victims (pulled from the article linked to):

• The 3-year-old boy, shot in the ear, in critical condition at Mount Sinai;
• A 17-year-old girl, shot in the foot, condition stabilized at Holy Cross Hospital;
• A 15-year-old boy shot in the arm, stabilized at Holy Cross;
• A man, 27, shot in the leg and wrist, serious condition at Mount Sinai;
• A man, 24, shot twice in the stomach, serious condition at Mount Sinia;
• A man, 21, shot in the leg, serious condition at Mount Sinai;
• A man, 41, shot in the buttocks, serious condition at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital;
• A woman, 33, shot in the shoulder, condition stabilized at Northwestern Memorial Hospital;
• A man, 31, shot in the buttocks, condition stabilized at Northwestern;
• A woman, 23, shot in the foot, condition stabilized at St. Anthony Hospital;
• A man, 37, shot in the leg, in good condition at Stroger;
• A man, 25, shot in the knee, in good condition at Northwestern;
• And a man, 33, who drove himself to Little Company of Mary Hospital in Evergreen Park with a gunshot wound to the leg and who was treated and released.

Food Stamps still under fire

The GOP is still coming after SNAP. I’m about to lose my damn mind. Last week I screened the movie, A Place at the Table. It is pretty good. There are obviously issues with it, but I was pleased overall, and the Civil Wars made up a good portion of the soundtrack. One of the panel speakers after the film spoke to the House GOP’s interest in cutting an additional $40 billion from nutrition programs over ten years. 

The Washington Post has an article by Derek Wallbank entitled “GOP to vote on $40 billion in food-stamps cuts”. The House of Representatives will be voting on Thursday on a 5.2 percent reduction from the Congressional Budget Office estimates based in current policy. Obviously, this would result in people in need being pushed off the program. The assumption is that charities will fill in, but these charities are tapped too. They have very few funds left. About 48 million people are on Snap in the US, which is about 23 million households. Republican’s plan to cut spending through restrictions to eligibility requirements,

Supports of this measure claim it is going to curb abuse, but abuse isn’t much of a problem with SNAP. As mentioned on NPR on Monday by Michael Wilson, Director of Maryland’s Hunger Solutions, fraud is more of a problem at the Pentagon than with SNAP. Actual SNAP fraud is probably between 2 and 6 percent. Additionally, this line about all able bodies people who can work should doesn’t take into account a shitty economy where employers don’t have to pay a living wage. Am I the only one who can’t follow this kind of ridiculous logic? Their goal is to end benefits for more than 6 million low-income people.

It also offends me to my very core that the GOP is assuming everyone on SNAP is lazy and cheating the system. Yes, SNAP utilization is growing because the economy continues to blow. Yes, if it continues to grow at this rate we’re going to see it reach $764 billion over the next ten years. Improve the social safety net, it costs more upfront, but like most preventative measures it is cheaper in the long run.

Contact information for House Representatives from DC, Maryland, and Ohio can be found below. I know most of the Dems will vote against it, but the GOP will pass it. So work on the Republican reps.

DC

Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton: 202-225-8050

Maryland

Rep: Andy Harris, 202-225-5311

Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, 202-225-3061

Rep. John P. Sarbanes, 202-225-4016

Rep. Donna F. Edwards, 202-225-8699

Rep. Steny H. Hoyer, 202-225-4143

Rep. John Delaney, 202-225-2721

Rep. Elijah Cummings, 202-225-4741

Rep. Chris Ban Hollen, 202-225-5341

Ohio

Rep. Steve Chabot, 202-225-2216

Rep. Brad Wenstrup, 202-225-3164

Rep. Joyce Beatty, 202-225-4324

Rep. Jim Jordan, 202-225-2676

Rep. Robert E. Latta, 202-225-6405

Rep. Bill Johnson, 202-225-5705

Rep, Bob Gibbs, 202-225-6265 (Agriculture Committee)

Speaker John A. Boehner, 202-225-6205

Rep. Marcy Kaptur, 202-225-4146

Rep. Michael Turner, 202-225-6465

Rep. Marcia L. Fudge, 202-225-7032

Rep. Pat Tiberi, 202-225-5355

Rep. Tim Ryan, 202-225-5261

Rep. David Joyce, 202-225-5731

Rep. Steve Stivers, 202-225-2015

Rep. Jim Renacci, 202-225-3876

Hey Speaker Boehner, need a hug?

Much to my delight, Speaker John Boehner received another ass kicking on Thursday when the House of Representatives voted down the $940 billion farm bill. The vote was 234 nays to 195 yeas. Democrats felt the bill cut too much from SNAP, and Republicans thought it didn’t cut enough so the bill failed. Now they head back to the drawing board. You can’t see it, but I’m dancing in my chair a bit. Of course, I’m also worrying about the kind of cuts these bat-shit-crazy Republicans want.

I’m not going to rehash everything about this bill because I’ve written about it enough. I will note that President Obama did threaten to veto the House version of the bill, and the Senate passed one with $20.5 billion in cuts. The House bill wanted to cut $743.9 billion from SNAP. Take a minute. Yep, everyone involved goes to the special hell. Now, this will be back, and probably with deeper cuts to SNAP, and probably something crazy thrown in for good measure. But (with an act of god) maybe Obama can hold the line with a veto threat (doubt it though), and we know the Senate will push back a little. I’m predicting no less than $25 billion cut from SNAP.

On the political side of things, Boehner can’t get a break. You have to wonder if this guy has any pull left with his party. The only thing worse than incompetent GOP leadership is ineffective and incompetent GOP leadership. Boehner, go home, retire. Descent in the ranks is nothing but good news for us, but with the emphasis on targeting women, the poor, and people of color it makes me nervous. Last thing we want is Rep. Franks ascending in the ranks. Fingers-crossed the GOP impales themselves on immigration reform and lose a ton of seats next go round. 

Boehner ran right back to the debt ceiling by yesterday afternoon. Making threats and the like, but can all the Democrats lean in  and pay attention? He's weak. He's very weak. He's going to be in a tight spot on immigration reform, and maybe just maybe if you pretend you know how to perform politics we can get somewhere. Boehner may have to rely in Democrats to pass immigration reform, which could cost Boehner his speaker ship eventually.