None of them sloth

Terrence Heath, in his own blog, sees signs that the GOP will simply fade to white. A few things he notes:

* In 2008 black voter turnout (the percentage of black voters who actually voted) was higher than white voter turnout.

* In 2012 Romney lost 83% of the non-white vote.

* There are more non-whites under the age of 5 than whites of that age. There are now more white deaths per year than white births.

* The GOP is assuming the coalition that Obama put together will fracture. Groups such as North Carolina's Fusion Politics are working to make sure that it doesn't happen.

* At the recent 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington the GOP had a great opportunity to make the conservative case to a black audience. Or at least counteract the huge Dem presence. But they declined all invitations.

Shrinking white base. No interest in reaching out to minorities. I like what that leads to.



The Farm Bill / Food Stamp Bill was in the news today, including NPR. The House GOP is cutting another 5% from food stamps. The representatives are saying all kinds of things about able-bodied poor need to go out and get a job. Of course, the response was a job in this economy? Besides many of the people on food stamps have a job. It doesn't pay a living wage.

Terrence Heath has a discussion of this bill. He notes how much various members of Congress (including a Rockefeller) receive (or will receive) in payments from the Farm Bill. These are gentlemen farmers that may own the land but don't do any of the work (if any farming is actually done) and live quite handsomely without any farm income. Which means they are voting to take food out of the mouths of the poor but voted to keep putting money in their own pockets. Heath concludes this way:

Republicans believe that closing billions of dollars in tax loopholes is wrong, and killing jobs by slashing government spending is right. Republicans believe that raising taxes on the wealthy is immoral, but slashing food assistance is moral.

Food stamps should not be the Hunger Games.


Chris Arnade has a related article that is posted on AlterNet. He had been working on Wall Street, but left that job to document the lives of addicts in one of the poorest sections of the Bronx. While on Wall Street he knew a man he calls Mr. One-glove, for his stinginess. This guy made bets that bankrupted his company (bailed out by the feds), an action that set the whole economy into a tailspin. At the end of 2008 he wonders how big his bonus will be.

Arnade contrasts Wall Street with Takeesha. She was molested by a family member at 11, pimped by another at 13, ran away at 15 and has spent 25 years as a prostitute and addict. It would be great if she shook off the rape and prostitution, took advantage of social services, graduated from high school and college and is free of her past. Didn't happen. Her question: Will I get out of jail by the end of the year?

Arnade's point: Mr. One-glove can afford lawyers. They can find the wiggle room in the law. He makes mistakes and goes home at the end of the day. Takeesha can't afford lawyers. For her the law is rigid. She makes mistakes and goes to jail.

One-glove felt that raising his own taxes to help the poor like Takeesha was "encouraging a lifetime of sloth" (as the GOP likes to echo). Arnade's answer:

Poverty and addiction have a thousand mothers, none of them sloth. Surviving the streets and hustling for the next fix is some of the hardest work around.