Hey, John Boehner: GOP Spending Cuts Treat the Poor Like Wet Food Stamps

I have a lil' something to say about the Obama Administration's proposed 2012 budget released a couple of days ago. But that's gonna be in an upcoming post shortly so stay tuned. However, I've heard it said that Obama's proposal plays heavily as a political move to ensure re-election. Supposedly it's designed to pull in independent voters, who as I'm told, are more concerned about this country's budget deficit than the jobs crisis. Who needs to work in a recession, right?

Of course this sounds ass-backwards to me, but then again, I'm not a fence-straddling independent voter. I'm just an asshole with a blog who just so happens to believe, that "we the people" (yes, even the unemployed lazy ones too tired to look for work as said by Conservatives) are what makes America great. Having said that, lets take a listen to what one professed independent voter calling in to C-SPAN's Washington Journal thinks.

The subject of the show being the GOP's proposed budget cuts. Viewers were asked, "What if any programs would you like to see cut from the federal budget?" The real irony here is the fact that the following response to the question comes from an Ohio resident who just so happens to live in John Boehner's district. You know, the same Boehner who said "so be it" should the GOP spending cuts create job losses? Yes folks, Boehner will be here all week.

You gotta watch this:


Now I'm not the smartest person in the world, but even I can see a problem with this callers asinine proposal. Much like the proposed GOP spending cuts (and some of the White House's) the idea to cut Food Stamps is an assault on the already working poor, and newly poor. But I suppose nothing is more motivational as saying, "put down the Beluga Caviar and get a job you lazy bum," than proposing to cut food stamps; that'll learn them teat suckers.

Uh-Uh.. You Can't eat THAT on Food Stamps!

First, they want to blame food stamps for the obesity epidemic in the United States, then, they want to prohibit Food Stamp recipients from buying "unhealthy" items such as soda. Now, people want to take issue with the fact that some food stamp recipients are using their benefits to purchase "luxury" items like fresh vegetables and organic foods.

"Hipsters on Food Stamps" are the new targets being scrutinized in the media for not looking and behaving enough like REAL poor people. Apparently, young people who were raised in privileged environments, and are now unemployed and living at or below the poverty level are not the "right kind of poor". I guess if you grew up wealthy you are magically immune to poverty? If you are a college graduate who cannot find a job in today's economy, you are just too lazy, right?

The increase in food stamp use among this demographic is hard to measure, as they represent a cross section of characteristics not specifically tracked by the Agriculture Department, which administers the program.

But general unemployment figures among the group are stark: Between the ends of 2007 and 2009, unemployment among those aged 20 to 34 rose 100 percent, and between 2006 and 2009, unemployment among those with a bachelor's degree or higher was up 179 percent.

And in cities that are magnets for 20- and 30-something creatives and young professionals, the kinds of food markets that specialize in delectables like artisanal bread, heirloom tomatoes and grass-fed beef have seen significant upticks in food stamp payments among their typical shoppers. At the Wedge, a market in the stylish Uptown neighborhood of Minneapolis; at New Seasons Market, a series of nine specialty stores in and around Portland, Ore.; and at Rainbow Grocery, a stalwart for food lovers in San Francisco's Mission District, food stamp purchases have doubled in the past year.

"The use has gone way up in the last six months," said Eric Wilcox, a cashier who has worked at Rainbow Grocery in San Francisco for 10 years. "We're seeing a lot more young people in their 20s purchasing organic food with food stamp cards. I wouldn't say it's limited to hipster people, but I'm certainly surprised to see them with cards."

Young urbanites with a taste for ciabatta may legitimately be among the new poor, but their participation in the program is far from universally accepted. A New York Times story in late November about the program's explosive growth generated a storm of comments online, with many readers lobbing familiar accusations of laziness and irresponsibility.Source

It seems like many people believe that the only people who have a legitimate right to government assistance are married white people who work in blue collar professions. Because God knows we are all familiar with the images of the "unworthy" poor. Single mothers, Black people, immigrants, the mentally ill. Now, we can add a new group to those people who are deemed undeserving... "hipsters" who have fallen into poverty.