From The Ramparts
by Junious Ricardo Stanton ~
“Nearly half of all Americans lack economic security, meaning they live above the federal poverty threshold but still do not have enough money to cover housing, food, healthcare and other basic expenses, according to a survey of government and industry data. The survey, released on Tuesday by the advocacy group Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW), found that 45 percent of U.S. residents live in households that struggle to make ends meet. That breaks down to 39 percent of all adults and 55 percent of all children, the group found.” November 23, 2011 Reuters http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article29803.htm
As we experience another “Thanksgiving Holiday” a day unfortunately far too many Americans use to gorge and stuff themselves, fixating on football and other unessential issues, more and more people find themselves floundering in a sea of debt, poverty and uncertainty. Thanksgiving is a national “holiday” a day set aside to give public thanks for the blessings and abundance provided by the CREATOR. Unfortunately for many, their minds are not on appreciation or blessings but on food, materialism or despair for their futures.
America is sliding into a moral abyss. The KARMA for the wickedness and evil done by the leadership class specifically their policies designed to impoverish and strip the middle and lower classes of their wealth and transfer it to themselves is being visited upon us. The signs are evident to all willing to peek through the fog of deceit, spin, propaganda and advertising. America as a nation is collapsing from the humongous weight of the moral rot metastasizing throughout the body politic, spreading to the psyches of the masses via an all pervasive media and the various institutions. The psychopathy and wickedness at the top is trickling down to the masses. Street crime is merely a reflection of the high crimes and misdemeanors of the ruling elites, the rampant corruption, fraud, predation, callousness and war. In a just moral order evil like this would not be rewarded. The irony is, it is not the hand of some deity off in space that is doing us in, it is our own greed, insensitivity and immorality.
One might ask why are so many innocent people suffering? Why are people losing their jobs and their homes? Why is poverty increasing in America? My answer is we are all connected and the actions of the wicked, the insensitive and the greedy impact the conditions of the innocent. “The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program is designed to provide cash assistance to poor families. It's sort of a last resort cushion after unemployment benefits and family charity have run out. Before 1996, it was better known, somewhat derisively, as welfare. But in 1996, Congress, with the blessing of President Bill Clinton, decided welfare needed reforming. The old program had been an entitlement program, much like food stamps or unemployment benefits—programs with budgets that automatically rose when the need did. Times like now, when the country has seen increases in the poverty rate for three consecutive years and has more Americans living in poverty than at any other time in more than a half-century. In 1996, welfare was turned into a block grant and its budget was fixed at $16 billion, so that states received roughly the same amount of money every year, regardless of how many people might be out of work and suffering. Many Republicans in Congress would like to do this to the Medicaid program. But TANF should serve as a serious cautionary tale about what happens when the safety net is left up to the congressional appropriations process. Congress hasn't increased the TANF block grant since it was created. As a result, new data from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities shows that the value of cash benefits to poor families have fallen by as much as 30 percent in some states simply because of inflation—call it a stealth budget cut. The reduction in TANF benefits is now going beyond just the erosion from inflation: In many cash-strapped states, legislators have diverted money from the block grant to pay for other things, while slashing benefits to poor families at a time when unemployment has been consistently high.” Poor People To Get Poorer - Stephanie Mencimer
http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/11/tanf-poverty-increase-states-super-committee
When the corporate elite colluded with US presidents and Congress to pursue a policy of globalization, US de-industrialization and outsourcing of US jobs; and the financial elite, international bankers and hedge fund managers decided to turn Wall Street and London into a giant casino the resulting economic collapse impacted the whole world. Unemployment is rising and will continue as the depression drags on. The US government is broke as are their state and local counterparts. This situation means the social safety nets which would be fragile anyway under the circumstances but since they are being targeted for elimination or privatization by the fascists (the 1 %) are really perilously in danger. The monetary policies of the Federal Reserve Bank a private bank that contrary to the US Constitution was given the authority to set interest rates and determine the amount of money in circulation (at interest to them) have exacerbated the situation because they have created a disincentive to save, created a borrowing binge that is sinking the nation and consumers in an ocean of debt due to their low interest rates and hyper-inflationary monetary policies.
Thanksgiving and Black Friday are upon us, a word to the wise, don’t go for the okey-doke. Do not spend beyond your means! Do not get caught up in the media induced herd mentality by going on a spending spree you will regret when the bills come due. Enjoy the holidays sensibly. Please don’t try to keep up with the Jones; remember they may be heavily in debt too. Focus on what’s really important: family unity, rekindling a sense of community and breaking away from the consumer debt spiral. The goal of the banksters and credit card companies is to get you in debt bondage so you will make them richer as you struggle to pay off the debt and interest. Real freedom means not owing anyone more than you can repay. This goes for governments and well as families.
“Nearly half of all Americans lack economic security, meaning they live above the federal poverty threshold but still do not have enough money to cover housing, food, healthcare and other basic expenses, according to a survey of government and industry data. The survey, released on Tuesday by the advocacy group Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW), found that 45 percent of U.S. residents live in households that struggle to make ends meet. That breaks down to 39 percent of all adults and 55 percent of all children, the group found.” November 23, 2011 Reuters http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article29803.htm
As we experience another “Thanksgiving Holiday” a day unfortunately far too many Americans use to gorge and stuff themselves, fixating on football and other unessential issues, more and more people find themselves floundering in a sea of debt, poverty and uncertainty. Thanksgiving is a national “holiday” a day set aside to give public thanks for the blessings and abundance provided by the CREATOR. Unfortunately for many, their minds are not on appreciation or blessings but on food, materialism or despair for their futures.
America is sliding into a moral abyss. The KARMA for the wickedness and evil done by the leadership class specifically their policies designed to impoverish and strip the middle and lower classes of their wealth and transfer it to themselves is being visited upon us. The signs are evident to all willing to peek through the fog of deceit, spin, propaganda and advertising. America as a nation is collapsing from the humongous weight of the moral rot metastasizing throughout the body politic, spreading to the psyches of the masses via an all pervasive media and the various institutions. The psychopathy and wickedness at the top is trickling down to the masses. Street crime is merely a reflection of the high crimes and misdemeanors of the ruling elites, the rampant corruption, fraud, predation, callousness and war. In a just moral order evil like this would not be rewarded. The irony is, it is not the hand of some deity off in space that is doing us in, it is our own greed, insensitivity and immorality.
One might ask why are so many innocent people suffering? Why are people losing their jobs and their homes? Why is poverty increasing in America? My answer is we are all connected and the actions of the wicked, the insensitive and the greedy impact the conditions of the innocent. “The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program is designed to provide cash assistance to poor families. It's sort of a last resort cushion after unemployment benefits and family charity have run out. Before 1996, it was better known, somewhat derisively, as welfare. But in 1996, Congress, with the blessing of President Bill Clinton, decided welfare needed reforming. The old program had been an entitlement program, much like food stamps or unemployment benefits—programs with budgets that automatically rose when the need did. Times like now, when the country has seen increases in the poverty rate for three consecutive years and has more Americans living in poverty than at any other time in more than a half-century. In 1996, welfare was turned into a block grant and its budget was fixed at $16 billion, so that states received roughly the same amount of money every year, regardless of how many people might be out of work and suffering. Many Republicans in Congress would like to do this to the Medicaid program. But TANF should serve as a serious cautionary tale about what happens when the safety net is left up to the congressional appropriations process. Congress hasn't increased the TANF block grant since it was created. As a result, new data from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities shows that the value of cash benefits to poor families have fallen by as much as 30 percent in some states simply because of inflation—call it a stealth budget cut. The reduction in TANF benefits is now going beyond just the erosion from inflation: In many cash-strapped states, legislators have diverted money from the block grant to pay for other things, while slashing benefits to poor families at a time when unemployment has been consistently high.” Poor People To Get Poorer - Stephanie Mencimer
http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/11/tanf-poverty-increase-states-super-committee
When the corporate elite colluded with US presidents and Congress to pursue a policy of globalization, US de-industrialization and outsourcing of US jobs; and the financial elite, international bankers and hedge fund managers decided to turn Wall Street and London into a giant casino the resulting economic collapse impacted the whole world. Unemployment is rising and will continue as the depression drags on. The US government is broke as are their state and local counterparts. This situation means the social safety nets which would be fragile anyway under the circumstances but since they are being targeted for elimination or privatization by the fascists (the 1 %) are really perilously in danger. The monetary policies of the Federal Reserve Bank a private bank that contrary to the US Constitution was given the authority to set interest rates and determine the amount of money in circulation (at interest to them) have exacerbated the situation because they have created a disincentive to save, created a borrowing binge that is sinking the nation and consumers in an ocean of debt due to their low interest rates and hyper-inflationary monetary policies.
Thanksgiving and Black Friday are upon us, a word to the wise, don’t go for the okey-doke. Do not spend beyond your means! Do not get caught up in the media induced herd mentality by going on a spending spree you will regret when the bills come due. Enjoy the holidays sensibly. Please don’t try to keep up with the Jones; remember they may be heavily in debt too. Focus on what’s really important: family unity, rekindling a sense of community and breaking away from the consumer debt spiral. The goal of the banksters and credit card companies is to get you in debt bondage so you will make them richer as you struggle to pay off the debt and interest. Real freedom means not owing anyone more than you can repay. This goes for governments and well as families.
https://theblacklist.net/
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