One fascinating byproduct of the Congressional cuts in the SNAP program is that the employees of our nation's largest employer- Walmart- takes a financial hit. Isn't capitalism amazing?
http://egbertowillies.com/2014/02/01/walmart-snap-profits-republican-gop/
It's not only the Walmartians that have to supplement their meager pay with social services like SNAP that suffer, but millions of people under-employed elsewhere (or not employed at all) who shop at Walmart now have ninety fewer dollars to spend every month. If $90 doesn't seem like much, multiply it by tens of millions of recipients every fucking month.
Now, if you're a republican you're thinking all sorts of warm thoughts about how the budget can be balanced and the deficit eliminated and lazy people will get the kick-start in the pants they need to get off their ass and get a job at Walmart or McDonalds...where they are paid so little that they...qualify for SNAP benefits....just not as much as before....WTF?
Sounds like a vicious cycle, one that the republicans want so badly to break that they don't care how badly they hurt people, the economy and the country.
I'm a firm believer in the reality that whenever government 'saves' money here they spend it there. Usually there turns out to be corporations. Most people do this as well. When I made coffee this morning, as I do every morning and have for decades, I pondered how much money I have spent on coffee over the years and if I didn't drink coffee, how many yachts would I have? Forget the math. I doubt I would have even a nickel more than right now because, if I didn't spend it on coffee, I would have spent it on something else. Food, beer - something. It doesn't really matter 'what' and, unless you're a liar and /or really, really frugal, you'd have spent the money too. The reality of most peoples lives is that, except for the very rich and spinster ladies with fifty cats, it is very hard to say money. If you give a poor person $100 cash, they will spend it. Give a rich guy $100 and, if he doesn't light a cigar with it, he puts it in with his other money to be shipped to the safety of offshore banks.
This is to say that every dollar that goes out to the public in aid to the poor comes right back into the economy. None of it gets saved in banks here or in The Caymans.
Contrast that with the hundreds of billions given in cash and tax breaks to huge corporations like Walmart, McDonald's, Exxon, GE and many, many more. Where do those dollars go? None of our fucking business.
However, not only do we (as in we the people that 'govern'...) need to not only cut the aid to the poor, we need to limit what they can buy to put in their children's bellies and, in some states, spend even more money to drug test them- hoping that we can catch them dirty and then cut them off.
All the above companies combined receive more public funding (I think) than we the people pay out in welfare programs and the CEO's of these companies get to eat whatever the fuck they want. No one drug tests them though they receive tens of millions. No one questions what they purchase and whether they have a refrigerator in their home. It's assumed they do because they work so hard....
Enjoy the Super Bowl today. The commissioner of the NFL made $29.5 million in 2011. Maybe he had a Super good year. The league itself is a $10 BILLION a year non-profit, subsidized by the taxpayers. That's the 'we the people' not in the government. Be sure and buy all the products offered in the commercials. If we don't support them, they'll need to ask the government for more money...
And the cycle repeats....
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