Puterbac News Network and Political Discussion Thread

[Professor Tiger]

We were supposed to go to Egypt (with a side trip to Israel) last summer, but didn't, for obvious reasons.

[Owlman]

Datestamp:05/23/2011 http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/667302 ... j3b4hdi2t3

Oregon's hungry efficiently served

92 percent of people eligible for assistance are enrolled

More than 770,000 Oregonians were receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits lastmonth, which makes up about 20 percent of the state population.
That pegs Oregon as one of the hungriest states in the country, second only to Mississippi.

But participation rates show that the state's program is one of the most successful, with about 92 percent of the eligible population enrolled in 2008 − the most recent data available − compared to the national average of 66percent. Oregon ranks second to Maine when it comes to participation in SNAP − formerly known as theFood Stamp program − and leaders say it's the result of elected officials' and advocates' aggressive approachin making the program accessible and known to the eligible population.

Belit Stockfleth, SNAP and youth services program manager for the Oregon Department of Human Services,said the support of policy makers and advocacy groups has been key in expanding its reach.

"We have a strong partnership," she said. "A lot of states envy us."

Through this collaboration, Oregon has taken advantage of many policy options provided by the federalgovernment that eliminate barriers and improve efficiency.

For example, the expanded categorical eligibility option allows the state to determine eligibility solely basedon monthly income.

"If you're fortunate enough to have a few thousand dollars in savings, you shouldn't have to spend that beforeyou get food stamps," said Nancy Weed, SNAP outreach coordinator for Partners for Hunger−Free Oregon."You shouldn't have to sell your car...........

[GBJs]

Went on a day trip Jerusalem tour on my last cruise. It was, in a word, excellent. Part of that is because we were allowed to spend more time at all of the stops. The reason for that is because "There's too much activity in Bethlehem for that portion of our tour today".

[AlabamAlum]

20% of the state population in Oregon is on food stamps?

[GBJs]

I agree people shouldn't have to sell their car. After all, transportation to and from work is a need. Now if they're making $500/month SUV payments and STILL on foodstamps, perhaps they should consider down sizing just a little. Might improve their self sufficiency.

[Professor Tiger]

I'd like to find a cruise that spends a couple of days in Israel, and the rest cruising the Greek Islands.

[Big Orange Junky]

Remember it's not "food stamps" any more. It's SNAP and you get a card that looks like a Discover card to assure the gubment that you will spend more and not have a save the money attitude and you can feel good knowing that most people now won't be able to notice you buying that candybar and getting 99 dollars in CASH as change.

[GBJs]

I'd like to find a cruise that spends a couple of days in Israel, and the rest cruising the Greek Islands.

Call the Navy...that's where I got mine.

[GBJs]

Remember it's not "food stamps" any more. It's SNAP and you get a card that looks like a Discover card to assure the gubment that you will spend more and not have a save the money attitude and you can feel good knowing that most people now won't be able to notice you buying that candybar and getting 99 dollars in CASH as change.

.

Yeah, fuck that.

[sardis]

"If you're fortunate enough to have a few thousand dollars in savings, you shouldn't have to spend that beforeyou get food stamps," said Nancy Weed, SNAP outreach coordinator for Partners for Hunger−Free Oregon."You shouldn't have to sell your car..........."

That's quite the head shaker...

[AlabamAlum]

Yes, God forbid that you'd have to spend your own money to feed yourself. I mean, c'mon, you saved that money for a reason--not to put food on your own table when something bad happens.

[Professor Tiger]

I also think Oregon's "user-friendly" food stamp program is ridiculous. It deserves all the scorn it gets. But why doesn't anybody around here get upset about corporate welfare, which is even worse? I bet more taxpayer money was squandered in one year of the federal ethanol subsidy program than in the food stamp programs of all 50 states combined.

Why do PNN conservatives only get riled when trailer trash people scam the system for a few hundred a month, but don't utter a peep when big agricultural companies scam the government for billions at a time?

[AugustWest]

because when 5 million people scam the government for $500/month it adds up to $30billion/year.

[10ac]

Yeah, right. No one has bitched about the ethanol scam.

[Professor Tiger]

Call the Navy...that's where I got mine.

The Army sent me to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Afghanistan. Unlike the Navy, we only go to sucky places.

[Professor Tiger]

Yeah, right. No one has bitched about the ethanol scam.

Around here, I haven't heard nearly the complaints about corporate welfare for the rich as I have food stamps and other forms of welfare for the poor. This is from the CATO Institute, hardly a leftist organization:

http://www.cato.org/corporate-welfare

Corporate Welfare

One egregious type of special-interest spending is ‘‘corporate welfare’’
or business subsidies. The federal government spends about $90 billion
annually on corporate welfare. That includes direct cash payments to
businesses, such as subsidies to farmers and grants to automobile companies.
It also includes indirect benefits, such as loans, research, and marketing
support for businesses.

In addition to spending programs, corporate welfare comprises barriers
to trade designed to protect businesses from foreign competition, and it
includes domestic regulations that confer advantages on certain companies
at the expense of individual consumers and the general economy.

A Sampler of Corporate Welfare Programs

The following are some corporate welfare programs that are long overdue
for repeal. Where provided, spending totals are for fiscal year 2008.
● Agriculture Department: Market Access Program. This program
hands out more than $200 million annually to exporters of agricultural
products to pay for their overseas advertising. Some of the recipients
include the Brewers Association, the Pet Food Institute, Sunkist
Growers, Welch’s Food, and the Wine Institute.
● Commerce Department: Advanced Technology Program. This
$198 million program gives research grants to high-tech companies.
● Foreign Military Financing. U.S. taxpayers fund weapons purchases
by foreign governments through this $4.7 billion program.
● Amtrak. The federal passenger rail company receives about
$1.4 billion in subsidies annually. But Amtrak would be better off
privatized so it could cut inefficient routes, maximize profits, and
innovate.
● Export-Import Bank. This agency uses taxpayer dollars to subsidize
the financing of foreign purchases of U.S. goods. It makes billions
of dollars of preferential loans to foreigners, guarantees the loans of
private institutions, and provides export credit insurance. In 2007, a
Dallas television station (WFAA) discovered that the agency provided
$243 million in loans to bogus Mexican companies, including
drug cartels.
● Maritime Administration. This $591 million agency provides subsidies
to the commercial shipping and shipbuilding industries. For
example, the agency provides loan guarantees for purchases of ships
from U.S. shipyards. But the best way to ensure a vigorous U.S.-
owned ship industry is to reduce domestic taxes and regulations,
which have encouraged the industry to move offshore.
● Energy Department: Energy Supply Research. This $894 million
program aims to develop new and improved energy technologies.

Corporate Welfare and Earmarks

But the energy industry itself should fund such work, since it will
earn profits when breakthroughs are made.
● Small Business Administration. This $530 million agency provides
subsidized loans and loan guarantees to small businesses. It has a
poor record of selecting businesses to support, as its loans have high
rates of delinquency.

[Professor Tiger]

Also from Cato:

Ethanol: A Case Study in Corporate Welfare

Supporters of federal ethanol subsidies claim that ethanol production
reduces America’s dependence on foreign oil. But that effect is negligible
and it comes at a high cost by distorting the economy and raising food
prices.
The federal government subsidizes ethanol—a fuel derived from agricultural
products—through a variety of regulatory and tax provisions,
including:
● A 9-billion-gallon federal mandate for ethanol usage in vehicles,
● A 51-cent-per-gallon tax credit for ethanol producers,
● A 54-cent-per-gallon tariff on imported ethanol, and
● Subsidies to corn producers, which partly subsidize ethanol production.
As a result of these subsidies, U.S. ethanol production has skyrocketed
in recent years, with the effect of transferring much wealth fromconsumers
to farmland owners and agribusinesses. Ethanol subsidies here and abroad
are helping to push up food prices worldwide as farmland is converted
from food production to fuel production.
As the price of oil has risen in recent years, the prices of agricultural
commodities have also risen because of the ethanol link, and that is hurting
food consumers everywhere, including many of the world’s poorest people.
A recent World Bank report concludes that increased biofuel production
has been the major factor behind soaring world food prices in recent years.
In 2007, Congress increased the mandated production of ethanol and
other renewable fuels to 9 billion gallons in 2008, 11 billion gallons in
2009, and increasing amounts after that. U.S. ethanol is made from corn,
and corn producers already receive billions of dollars each year from
federal farmsubsidy programs. Ethanol subsidies increase the governmentgenerated
profits for corn producers and owners of farmland.
Ethanol is damaging to consumers and taxpayers, and it is also not
very energy efficient. Studies show varying results, but it appears that the
production of ethanol consumes about as much energy as the ethanol itself
produces in vehicles, thus providing little net benefit to America’s energy
needs. Congress should stop fueling the ethanol industry with subsidies
and regulations, and let the market decide whether ethanol makes any sense.

[Hacksaw]

A lot of the federal government spending excesses that we bitch about all the time here fall under the category of so-called corporate welfare. Just because we don't call it "corporate welfare" doesn't mean that we support it. And part of the problem with the subject of corporate welfare is that left-wingers have diluted the definition to the point where tax breaks for companies that don't ship jobs overseas, for instance, are often included. Smart government policies that encourage companies to create more jobs are often described as corporate welfare.

Plus I think it's just a lot easier for us, as individual working-class people, to relate our own situations to people who have more in common with us -- and who do things that we could do, but have choosen not to. I think it offends our sensibilities about what our country is built on. What if everyone suddenly stopped working and decided to rely on the government to take care of us? It's the whole notion of "rugged individualism" that is being threatened.

[Professor Tiger]

We both get mad when mobile home residents take advantage of idiotic government welfare/food stamp laws and collect hundreds of dollars per month instead of working.

I also get mad when mansion residents take advantage of idiotic government subsidies/loopholes/grants and collect millions of dollars per year instead of competing in a fair and undistorted free market.

[Jungle Rat]

Americans are lazy. Fix that and there ya go.