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Author Topic:   A War on the Poor
AcousticGod
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Posts: 8039
From: Pleasanton, CA
Registered: Apr 2009

posted November 01, 2013 05:19 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for AcousticGod     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Op-Ed Columnist
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: October 31, 2013

John Kasich, the Republican governor of Ohio, has done some surprising things lately. First, he did an end run around his state’s Legislature — controlled by his own party — to proceed with the federally funded expansion of Medicaid that is an important piece of Obamacare. Then, defending his action, he let loose on his political allies, declaring, “I’m concerned about the fact there seems to be a war on the poor. That, if you’re poor, somehow you’re shiftless and lazy.”

Obviously Mr. Kasich isn’t the first to make this observation. But the fact that it’s coming from a Republican in good standing (although maybe not anymore), indeed someone who used to be known as a conservative firebrand, is telling. Republican hostility toward the poor and unfortunate has now reached such a fever pitch that the party doesn’t really stand for anything else — and only willfully blind observers can fail to see that reality.

The big question is why. But, first, let’s talk a bit more about what’s eating the right.

I still sometimes see pundits claiming that the Tea Party movement is basically driven by concerns about budget deficits. That’s delusional. Read the founding rant by Rick Santelli of CNBC: There’s nary a mention of deficits. Instead, it’s a tirade against the possibility that the government might help “losers” avoid foreclosure. Or read transcripts from Rush Limbaugh or other right-wing talk radio hosts. There’s not much about fiscal responsibility, but there’s a lot about how the government is rewarding the lazy and undeserving.

Republicans in leadership positions try to modulate their language a bit, but it’s a matter more of tone than substance. They’re still clearly passionate about making sure that the poor and unlucky get as little help as possible, that — as Representative Paul Ryan, the chairman of the House Budget Committee, put it — the safety net is becoming “a hammock that lulls able-bodied people to lives of dependency and complacency.” And Mr. Ryan’s budget proposals involve savage cuts in safety-net programs such as food stamps and Medicaid.

All of this hostility to the poor has culminated in the truly astonishing refusal of many states to participate in the Medicaid expansion. Bear in mind that the federal government would pay for this expansion, and that the money thus spent would benefit hospitals and the local economy as well as the direct recipients. But a majority of Republican-controlled state governments are, it turns out, willing to pay a large economic and fiscal price in order to ensure that aid doesn’t reach the poor.

The thing is, it wasn’t always this way. Go back for a moment to 1936, when Alf Landon received the Republican nomination for president. In many ways, Landon’s acceptance speech previewed themes taken up by modern conservatives. He lamented the incompleteness of economic recovery and the persistence of high unemployment, and he attributed the economy’s lingering weakness to excessive government intervention and the uncertainty he claimed it created.

But he also said this: “Out of this Depression has come, not only the problem of recovery but also the equally grave problem of caring for the unemployed until recovery is attained. Their relief at all times is a matter of plain duty. We of our Party pledge that this obligation will never be neglected.”

Can you imagine a modern Republican nominee saying such a thing? Not in a party committed to the view that unemployed workers have it too easy, that they’re so coddled by unemployment insurance and food stamps that they have no incentive to go out there and get a job.

So what’s this all about? One reason, the sociologist Daniel Little suggested in a recent essay, is market ideology: If the market is always right, then people who end up poor must deserve to be poor. I’d add that some leading Republicans are, in their minds, acting out adolescent libertarian fantasies. “It’s as if we’re living in an Ayn Rand novel right now,” declared Paul Ryan in 2009.

But there’s also, as Mr. Little says, the stain that won’t go away: race.

In a much-cited recent memo, Democracy Corps, a Democratic-leaning public opinion research organization, reported on the results of focus groups held with members of various Republican factions. They found the Republican base “very conscious of being white in a country that is increasingly minority” — and seeing the social safety net both as something that helps Those People, not people like themselves, and binds the rising nonwhite population to the Democratic Party. And, yes, the Medicaid expansion many states are rejecting would disproportionately have helped poor blacks.

So there is indeed a war on the poor, coinciding with and deepening the pain from a troubled economy. And that war is now the central, defining issue of American politics. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/01/opinion/krugman-a-war-on-the-poor.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20131101&_r=2&

I mostly wanted to post the opening paragraphs, but the history lesson I bolded is also important.

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Node
Knowflake

Posts: 2438
From: 1,981 mi East of Truth or Consequences NM
Registered: Apr 2009

posted November 01, 2013 05:53 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Node     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
WoW

Is Kasich the lead horse in a turn around?
Has low polling figs for Repubs shaken the tree?

Doubt it.

This is pretty amazing even for Taurus Kasich.

quote:
He was a commentator on Fox News Channel, hosting Heartland with John Kasich (2001-2007); he also worked as an investment banker, as managing director of Lehman Brother's Columbus, Ohio office (until the firm collapsed in 2008).

This is a good time to post this article, as today-- if I'm not mistaken, is the day when Food - or SNAP assistance cuts go into effect.

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jwhop
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From: Madeira Beach, FL USA
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posted November 02, 2013 12:58 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for jwhop     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
" Bear in mind that the federal government would pay for this expansion..(Medicaid)"...acoustic

Well, you're no math whiz and that's for sure. Not well versed in how welfare programs...like Medicaid are funded either.

Feds..through forfeiture of hard earned citizens pay will fund Medicaid 100% and then 97%. Just who in the hell do you...and your idiot idol Krugman think is going to pay for this. You think it's all free? Idiotic!

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AcousticGod
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From: Pleasanton, CA
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posted November 02, 2013 01:36 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for AcousticGod     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote

I don't know why you try to make it about me, Jwhop. I know you're sour over me constantly besting you with common sense, but some things just aren't about me. That's not even a quote from me (it's from the paper), though it is correct.

The government would have indeed paid for those expansions. I don't know why you'd single out that well-known fact.

quote:
Feds..through forfeiture of hard earned citizens pay will fund Medicaid 100% and then 97%. Just who in the hell do you...and your idiot idol Krugman think is going to pay for this. You think it's all free? Idiotic!

You know what's idiotic?: Thinking that by posting that it will be a taxpayer expense that ACA will somehow cost the taxpayer MORE money, when everyone knows ACA saves the Federal government [and therefore the taxpayer] money overall. It was passed under reconciliation, which means it reduces governmental expense, and that is still true to this day. Repealing it would actually cost the government [and therefore the taxpayer] more money.

Next!

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jwhop
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From: Madeira Beach, FL USA
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posted November 02, 2013 02:21 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for jwhop     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
"I don't know why you try to make it about me, Jwhop"..acoustic

Hint acoustic, it's not about you. You flatter yourself. But...

you post the most absurd, ridiculous tripe on this forum, written by some of the biggest idiots in leftist-land and you have been doing so for a very long time.

Paul Krugman is right up there near the top of the leftist idiots list.

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Ami Anne
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From: Pluto/house next to NickiG
Registered: Sep 2010

posted November 02, 2013 02:33 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ami Anne     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Jwhop, I know you're sour over me constantly besting you with common sense

OMG

This is hilarious

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AcousticGod
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From: Pleasanton, CA
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posted November 02, 2013 02:58 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for AcousticGod     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
"Ridiculous tripe" is your purview, dear Jwhop. Your posts here are a perfect example of what to say if you have nothing to say in rebuttal.

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Ami Anne
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From: Pluto/house next to NickiG
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posted November 02, 2013 03:21 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ami Anne     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by AcousticGod:
"Ridiculous tripe" is your purview, dear Jwhop. Your posts here are a perfect example of what to say if you have [b]nothing to say in rebuttal.[/B]

I didn't have to get a Masters degree in counseling with a perfect 4.0 to realize this is projection

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Catalina
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From: shamballa
Registered: Aug 2013

posted November 02, 2013 03:56 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Catalina     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Originally posted by AcousticGod:
"Ridiculous tripe" is your purview, dear Jwhop. Your posts here are a perfect example of what to say if you have [b]nothing to say in rebuttal.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


I didn't have to get a Masters degree in counseling with a perfect 4.0 to realize this is projection

Ami Ann do you know what attacking the person not the argument means?

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Ami Anne
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From: Pluto/house next to NickiG
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posted November 02, 2013 04:13 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ami Anne     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Ami Ann do you know what attacking the person not the argument means?

Why don't you role model it for me, from now on, so I can see a pro in action

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Ami Anne
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From: Pluto/house next to NickiG
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posted November 02, 2013 04:20 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ami Anne     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Acoustic says mean things to other people. I am just responding to those. Call 1-800-- MYOB--**YO

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Catalina
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From: shamballa
Registered: Aug 2013

posted November 02, 2013 04:59 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Catalina     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Do you inderstand the difference between"stick it" and "that is ridiculous"?

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Ami Anne
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From: Pluto/house next to NickiG
Registered: Sep 2010

posted November 02, 2013 06:02 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ami Anne     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Catalina:
Do you inderstand the difference between"stick it" and "that is ridiculous"?


Unless you had a radical Come to Jesus Moment( can I say that on here ) you are one of the nastiest people on LL, so it seems odd that you are schooling someone in the fine points of etiquette.


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Catalina
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From: shamballa
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posted November 03, 2013 11:10 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Catalina     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Really, Ami, there is no need for flattery!

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AcousticGod
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Posts: 8039
From: Pleasanton, CA
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posted November 03, 2013 12:08 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for AcousticGod     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Ami, you flatter yourself if you think you can do a single thing to me. Trying to suggest "projection", one of my steady arguments against Jwhop's irony is, as I called you previously, "vapid." It's unoriginal, unentertaining, and -as Cat just called you out on- it doesn't do a THING to further the discussion.

I am mean here...with cause. Namely, ridiculousness. If you or Jwhop are going to consciously be ridiculous, and post nonsense in response to well-thought-out posts, you may get shamed. If either of you are found incapable of having coherent discussion, there's no reason why you should receive any dignity for your lame discourse. I'm all for being nice to people that don't deserve it, but when you're attempting to attack intelligence with stupidity I feel less charitable. You're not attempting to say that you bring an intellectually valid point of view to this forum, are you? I've literally NEVER seen a coherent argument from you as to why any of your perspectives could potentially be right. Jwhop's got that superiority over you. He, at times, does have a point, and at other times can at least point out why he thinks he has a point. You can't even do that.

Cat is not nasty. I'm not generally mean. This is only what happens when you guys can't bother saying anything that's worthwhile.

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juniperb
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From: Blue Star Kachina
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posted November 03, 2013 01:12 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for juniperb     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Ami Anne:

Unless you had a radical Come to Jesus Moment( can I say that on here ) you are one of the nastiest people on LL, so it seems odd that you are schooling someone in the fine points of etiquette.


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Node
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Posts: 2438
From: 1,981 mi East of Truth or Consequences NM
Registered: Apr 2009

posted November 03, 2013 02:02 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Node     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
^^

and,

this statement/opinion by the aminatrix is so untrue as to be laughable.

cat

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Ami Anne
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Posts: 49454
From: Pluto/house next to NickiG
Registered: Sep 2010

posted November 03, 2013 02:15 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ami Anne     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by juniperb:


I'll quote myself

Anyhoo, moving right along. What is in the news today?
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Want To Ask Any Question About Bible Prophecy? Go For it. It is Free, of course.


http://www.mychristianpsychic.com/

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