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Originally posted by WaterBottle
We're in a recession, what exactly do you expect?
Would you prefer people go hungry?
Why do neo-con websites get linked on ATS? Isn't this place supposed to deny ignorance?edit on 23-1-2013 by WaterBottle because: (no reason given)
My problem with the food stamp program isn't that it exists. It's that it measures it's swelling numbers as success.
In 2010, President Obama signed into law the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. The bill added $4.5 billion to child-nutrition programs over the next decade, put in place nutrition standards for school lunch programs and vending machines, and implemented training for the cafeteria workers who feed 31 million students a day through the National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs. It received bipartisan support, and was hailed as a compassionate victory for America’s poorest children.
The bill was also, however, a potentially good development for mega bank JP Morgan Chase. Why, you may be wondering, would one of the nation’s biggest banks benefit from a bill meant to feed poor children? A closer look at the legislation reveals the answer. The bill mandates that “all state agencies implement Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) systems by October 1, 2020” for those receiving money through the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program. And which company administers nearly half of all states’ EBT programs? You guessed it: JP Morgan Chase.
“This business is a very important business to JP Morgan,” Christopher Paton, the company’s managing director of treasury services, told Bloomberg News in 2011. “It’s an important business in terms of its size and scale. We also regard it as very important in the sense that we are delivering a very useful social function. We are a key part of this benefit delivery mechanism. Right now volumes have gone through the roof in the past couple of years or so … The good news from JP Morgan’s perspective is the infrastructure that we built has been able to cope with that increase in volume.”
Just how lucrative JP Morgan’s EBT state contracts are is hard to say, because total national data on EBT contracts are not reported. But thanks to a combination of public-records requests and contracts that are available online, here’s what we do know: 18 of the 24 states JP Morgan handles have been contracted to pay the bank up to $560,492,596.02 since 2004. Since 2007, Florida has been contracted to pay JP Morgan $90,351,202.22. Pennsylvania’s seven-year contract totaled $112,541,823.27. New York’s seven-year contract totaled $126,394,917.
Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic
reply to post by macman
So, your solution is to let them starve in the streets?
Originally posted by macman
Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic
reply to post by macman
So, your solution is to let them starve in the streets?
Oh, no, I much better like the idea that the Govt can and does reach into my paycheck and forcibly steal more money to give to others.
But, why work anymore, people seem to be just fine and happy with getting stuff for free, on the backs of others.
How much more is needed from my paycheck to make it so "People don't starve in the street"
Originally posted by WaterBottle
So your solution is to let people starve in the street.
Originally posted by WaterBottle
Awesome mentality.
Originally posted by WaterBottle
Funny how these people never complain about the military budget that is being taken out of their check to fuel the military industrial complex and murder people.
Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic
reply to post by macman
Interesting that you can't answer my straightforward question without sarcasm. At least have the guts to admit that your position is to let your fellow Americans starve before offering them a loaf of bread from your pantry.
Originally posted by WaterBottle
Lets turn the USA into a third world country. Woooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!
All in the name of fiscal conservatism!!
Power to the people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
edit on 23-1-2013 by WaterBottle because: (no reason given)
Originally posted by retirednature
~So we have around 30% of Americans deciding not to work or seek a job
Maybe limit the duration in which people may receive food stamps?
Maybe limit the duration in which people may receive unemployment checks?
Maybe cut the ties between larger companies and/or corporations with the government, as in destroying all tax incentives?
Originally posted by macman
The Govt steals more then that from my paycheck, that I earned, only to piss it away and give it to others.
The Govt is there to make sure no one goes hungry, gets a boo-boo or has to work.
Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic
"Others" being policemen, firemen, veterans, the elderly, children in public schools, national parks, roadways and the biggest "thief" of all, the military... Are these the "others" that are pissing away your money?
Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic
I can only assume that's a typo, or more confusing sarcasm. But this particular discussion no longer interests me. You go after ME, you lose me.
Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic
[SNIP]
Unless you're suggesting that a conservative president would have regulated the pay gap. I don't think you're saying that.
reply to post by burdman30ott6
Originally posted by burdman30ott6
In fact, Obama's policies have largely centered around expanding the gap even further.
How's that? What policies?edit on 1/23/2013 by Benevolent Heretic because: (no reason given)
Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic
reply to post by burdman30ott6
Reagan raised taxes, nearly tripled the deficit, GREW the federal government, gave amnesty to 3 million undocumented immigrants and when he cut taxes, unemployment grew to over 10%. I don't know that I would consider him a conservative president.
In any case, we're living in very different times than Reagan times.
CINDY WILLIAMS was appointed by Obama as an Assistant Director for NATIONAL SECURITY in the Congressional Budget Office..... This is an Airman's response to Cindy Williams' editorial piece in the Washington Post about MILITARY PAY, it should be printed in all newspapers across America . Cindy William wrote a piece for the Washington Times denouncing the pay raise(s) coming service members' way this year citing that she stated a 13% wage increase was more than they deserve. A young airman from HillAFB responds to her article below. He ought to get a bonus for this. "Ms Williams: I just had the pleasure of reading your column, "Our GI's earn enough" and I am a bit confused. Frankly, I'm wondering where this vaunted overpayment is going, because as far as I can tell, it disappears every month between DFAS (The Defense Finance and Accounting Service) and my bank account. Checking my latest earnings statement I see that I make $1,117.80 before taxes per month. After taxes, I take home $874.20. When I run that through the calculator, I come up with an annual salary of $13,413.60 before taxes, and $10,490.40 after. I work in the Air Force Network Control Center where I am part of the team responsible for a 5,000 host computer network. I am involved with infrastructure segments, specifically with Cisco Systems equipment. A quick check under jobs for "Network Technicians" in the Washington , D.C. area reveals a position in my career field, requiring three years experience in my job. Amazingly, this job does NOT pay $13,413.60 a year. No, this job is being offered at $70,000 to $80,000 per annum............ I'm sure you can draw the obvious conclusions. Given the tenor of your column, I would assume that you NEVER had the pleasure of serving your country in her armed forces. Before you take it upon yourself to once more castigate congressional and DOD leadership for attempting to get the families in the military's lowest pay brackets off of WIC and food stamps, I suggest that you join a group of deploying soldiers headed for AFGHANISTAN ; I leave the choice of service branch up to you. Whatever choice you make though, opt for the SIX month rotation: it will guarantee you the longest possible time away from your family and friends, thus giving you full "deployment experience." As your group prepares to board the plane, make sure to note the spouses and children who are saying good-bye to their loved ones. Also take care to note that several families are still unsure of how they'll be able to make ends meet while the primary breadwinner is gone. Obviously they've been squandering the "vast" piles of cash the government has been giving them. Try to deploy over a major holiday; Christmas and Thanksgiving are perennial favorites.. And when you're actually over there, sitting in a foxhole, shivering against the cold desert night, and the flight sergeant tells you that there aren't enough people on shift to relieve you for chow, remember this: trade whatever MRE's (meal-ready-to-eat) you manage to get for the tuna noodle casserole or cheese tortellini, and add Tabasco to everything. This gives some flavor. Talk to your loved ones as often as you are permitted; it won't be nearly long enough or often enough, but take what you can get and be thankful for it. You may have picked up on the fact that I disagree with most of the points you present in your open piece. But, tomorrow from KABUL , I will defend to the death your right to say it. You see, I am an American fighting man, a guarantor of your First Amendment right and every other right you cherish...On a daily basis, my brother and sister soldiers worldwide ensure that you and people like you can thumb your collective noses at us, all on a salary that is nothing short of pitiful and under conditions that would make most people cringe. We hemorrhage our best and brightest into the private sector because we can't offer the stability and pay of civilian companies. And you, Ms.. Williams, have the gall to say that we make more than we deserve?” A1C Michael Bragg, Hill AFB AFNCC IF YOU AGREE, PLEASE PASS THIS ALONG TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE AND SHOW YOUR SUPPORT OF THE AMERICAN FIGHTING MEN AND WOMEN. If you get this more than once, feel honored that you know more than one person who supports our military and appreciates what they do.