Juan Cole makes a simple point that couldnt be more germane when it comes to our latest war effort -- the cost-cutters in the U.S. Congress dont blink when our endless wars are whats at stake, only when its the welfare of the American people. Tom It was all the way back in February, so the memory of this headline has faded: ”Congress passes $8.7 billion food stamp cut... It’s official: 850,000 households across the country are set to lose an average of $90 per month in food stamp benefits. The Senate on Tuesday voted 68-32 to send the 2014 Farm Bill – which includes an $8.7 billion cut to food stamps – to President Obama’s desk. Nine Democrats opposed the bill, and 46 members of the Democratic caucus voted for it, joining 22 Republicans. The GOP Congress’s assault on the American working class has been waged with the pretext that the Federal government has no money (what with being in debt and all). This despite the money being owed to the American people on the whole, and despite the long tradition of deficits in government budgets, which have seldom in history been balanced. But note that when there was a Republican president in the zeroes, the same voices did not demand austerity, but ran up the deficit with obvious glee. In contrast, Congress has no problem with the war on ISIL in Iraq and Syria, which could cost from $18 bn to $22 bn a year. Admittedly, in military terms this expense is relatively small. The point is that the same people who have trouble justifying a safety net for the working poor and find it urgent to cut billions from the programs that keep us a civilized society rather than a predatory jungle– the same people have no difficulty authorizing billions for vague bombing campaigns that are unlikely to be successful on any genuine metric. juancole/2014/10/billion-congress-stamps.html
Posted on: Wed, 01 Oct 2014 17:00:00 +0000