Thursday, October 31, 2013

A person making $50,000 a year pays 10 cents a day in taxes for food stamps (Via: Lou Colagiovanni)


http://www.examiner.com/article/a-person-making-50-000-a-year-pays-10-cents-a-day-taxes-for-food-stamps
If you were to ask 100 people how much they believed a married person with one child would pay in taxes, you'd likely get 100 different answers. Following that, if you asked them to explain the breakdown of where that tax money went, specifically to SNAP (formerly the food stamp program), it would be fair to assume nearly all would be unable to muster a coherent response.
Many people might be surprised to learn that the average contribution to the food stamp program is a little over 10 cents, or one thin dime, a day. Let's look at the numbers.
A married person with one child making $50,000 a year will pay exactly $3,820 in federal taxes. Of those, $2100 is allocated to Social Security, and $725 is distributed Medicare. This leaves a whopping $995 to be used to pay for programs administrated by the Federal government. That money is broken down below in its entirety:
  • National Defense $247.75 / 24.9%
  • Health care -- $235.81 / 23.7%
  • Job and Family Security -- $190.05 / 19.1%
  • Net Interest -- $73.63 / 8.1%
  • Veterans Benefits -- $44.77 / 4.5%
  • Education and Job Training -- $35.82 / 3.6%
  • Natural Resources, Energy, and Environment -- $19.90 / 2.0%
  • Immigration, Law Enforcement, and Administration of Justice -- $19.90 / 2.0%
  • International Affairs -- $15.92 / 1.6%
  • Science, Space, and Technology Programs -- $9.95 / 1.0%
  • Agriculture -- $6.96 / 0.7%
  • Community, Area, and Regional Development -- $4.98 / 0.5%
  • Response to Natural Disasters -- $3.98 / 0.4%
  • Additional Government Programs -- $78.61 / 7.9%
The category needed for examination is "Job and Family Security", which comprises 19.1% of all of the $995 paid in. In the future I will examine other categories in more detail. The breakdown of the $190.05 is listed below:
  • Unemployment insurance -- $22.88 / 2.3%
  • Food and nutrition assistance -- $36.82 / 3.7%
  • Housing assistance -- $19.90 / 2.0%
  • Earned income, Making Work Pay, and child tax credits -- $32.84 / 3.3%
  • Supplemental Security Income -- $18.91 / 1.9%
  • Federal military and civilian employee retirement and disability -- $43.78 / 4.4%
  • Child care, foster care, and adoption support -- $5.97 / 0.6%
  • Temporary Assistance for Needy Families -- $6.96 / 0.7%
  • Railroad retirement and additional income security -- $4.98 / 0.5%
As is evidenced above, despite a person paying $191.05 for "Job and Family Security", only $36.82 of that is going towards "Food and nutrition assistance."
Therefore, a married person with one child who makes $50,000 a year will pay $36.82 in taxes to ensure the food stamp program is fully funded. But wait, there is more. That $36.82 is not only for food stamps. Indeed, that money is allocated to two other programs that include the school lunch program, and the special supplemental food program for women, infants and children. Keep in mind, this comprises the totality of the costs associated with the program including administrative.
The breakdowns for how the $36.82 is allocated is not readily available, but do the math.
$36.82 divided by 365 days = 10 cents a day.
Consider the context. A person who is paid $50,000 a year earns, on average, $136 every 24 hours. Meaning that in a little over six hours, in the example where a person is paid for every hour of their life in perpetuity, that person would be able to pay for their entire yearly contribution to ensure that hungry people are fed.
By the way if you are curious as to what percentage 10 cents is while being compared to $136 a day the number is: 0.0735%
All of this information, and more, is freely available to the public and can be found on The White House's official website.

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Laci Green: here are 5 things everyone should know about slut shame this halloween

Via: Laci Green @ http://lacigreen.tumblr.com/

**5 THINGS EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT SLUT SHAME THIS HALLOWEEN**
1. Calling women sluts/whores/skanks is a form of sexism.When it comes to costumes, clothing, and sexual behavior, women are judged by a very different rubric than men.  When a guy has a lot of sex, he’s a stud.  If a woman behaves the same way, she’s a “whore”, “dirty”, “used up”, and doesn’t deserve to be treated with respect.  While people may use terms like “manslut” or “manwhore”, the consequences for the “manwhore” are not nearly as extreme.  People don’t see him as unworthy of respect.  He won’t be degraded, bullied, or have lies and rumors spread about him.  His reputation won’t be destroyed.  Being a “manwhore” is dismissed as him *~just being a guy~*.  
Because slut shame is a result of sexist ideas about what a woman “should” be or is allowed to do/be in the first place, women slut-shaming each other is a form of internalized sexism.  This is where a woman believes sexist things about herself and other women.  It can be very disruptive and harmful to women’s relationships with each other.  
These are some of the ways slut shame is entrenched in sexism.
2. Slut shame limits women’s freedom.Calling women names and degrading them when they *break the rules* about how a woman is SUPPOSED to dress or behave ensures that women don’t have the same freedom men do.  They are not allowed to dress or do what they like…unless they want to pay the price of being bullied or dehumanized for it.
3. Slut shame is one of the ways women compete with each other for male approval.   Slut-shaming creates a divide between women.  There are the “slutty stupid ones” with “no self respect” and there are the “proper ladies” who deserve to be treated as human.  Instead of building women up and cultivating healthy friendships, slut shame turns women against each other so that the slut-shamer can prove she’s “not like that” and therefore worthy of respect.  It puts women into harmful categories based on nothing more than how someone dresses or is perceived by others.  
4. Slut shame is a form of bullying.Girls who break outside the mold of what they are supposed to do/be sexually and are thusly labeled sluts are at a higher risk of anxiety, depression, and suicide.  There have been many suicides that started with bullying in the form of slut shame. RIP Felicia Garcia, Amanda Todd, Phoebe Prince, Hope Witsell, Stacey Rambold’s unnamed victim, and all the other young women who have tragically taken their own lives because of the heartlessness and sexism of their peers.
5. Slut shame leads to rape, sexual assault, and sexual violence.Because people see “sluts” as unworthy of respect, she is therefore not entitled to say no.  In this mentality, “sluts” become a target of harassment, assault, and even rape.  After the violence, she is then blamed for it.  After all, she was just a dumb slut….she asked for it, right?
This Halloween (and always) be a good person.  Respect women, respect their choices, and check yourself when you find yourself thinking or saying someone is a slut.  It’s a deeply held attitude about women that we all learn from our sexist culture, and it is vital that we all take the time to unlearn it.  These attitudes are more vicious and dangerous than they might appear.
xx
Laci
**5 THINGS EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT SLUT SHAME THIS HALLOWEEN**
1. Calling women sluts/whores/skanks is a form of sexism.When it comes to costumes, clothing, and sexual behavior, women are judged by a very different rubric than men.  When a guy has a lot of sex, he’s a stud.  If a woman behaves the same way, she’s a “whore”, “dirty”, “used up”, and doesn’t deserve to be treated with respect.  While people may use terms like “manslut” or “manwhore”, the consequences for the “manwhore” are not nearly as extreme.  People don’t see him as unworthy of respect.  He won’t be degraded, bullied, or have lies and rumors spread about him.  His reputation won’t be destroyed.  Being a “manwhore” is dismissed as him *~just being a guy~*.  
Because slut shame is a result of sexist ideas about what a woman “should” be or is allowed to do/be in the first place, women slut-shaming each other is a form of internalized sexism.  This is where a woman believes sexist things about herself and other women.  It can be very disruptive and harmful to women’s relationships with each other.  
These are some of the ways slut shame is entrenched in sexism.
2. Slut shame limits women’s freedom.Calling women names and degrading them when they *break the rules* about how a woman is SUPPOSED to dress or behave ensures that women don’t have the same freedom men do.  They are not allowed to dress or do what they like…unless they want to pay the price of being bullied or dehumanized for it.
3. Slut shame is one of the ways women compete with each other for male approval.   Slut-shaming creates a divide between women.  There are the “slutty stupid ones” with “no self respect” and there are the “proper ladies” who deserve to be treated as human.  Instead of building women up and cultivating healthy friendships, slut shame turns women against each other so that the slut-shamer can prove she’s “not like that” and therefore worthy of respect.  It puts women into harmful categories based on nothing more than how someone dresses or is perceived by others.  
4. Slut shame is a form of bullying.
Girls who break outside the mold of what they are supposed to do/be sexually and are thusly labeled sluts are at a higher risk of anxiety, depression, and suicide.  There have been many suicides that started with bullying in the form of slut shame. RIP Felicia Garcia, Amanda Todd, Phoebe Prince, Hope Witsell, Stacey Rambold’s unnamed victim, and all the other young women who have tragically taken their own lives because of the heartlessness and sexism of their peers.
5. Slut shame leads to rape, sexual assault, and sexual violence.Because people see “sluts” as unworthy of respect, she is therefore not entitled to say no.  In this mentality, “sluts” become a target of harassment, assault, and even rape.  After the violence, she is then blamed for it.  After all, she was just a dumb slut….she asked for it, right?
This Halloween (and always) be a good person.  Respect women, respect their choices, and check yourself when you find yourself thinking or saying someone is a slut.  It’s a deeply held attitude about women that we all learn from our sexist culture, and it is vital that we all take the time to unlearn it.  These attitudes are more vicious and dangerous than they might appear.
xx
Laci

Arguing wth Idiots (via Randi Rhodes)


Republicans in Congress are criticizing Obama about the healthcare plans that are being cancelled because they don’t meet the requirements of the ACA. Great, now the GOP can be known as the champions of worthless healthcare plans! These are not healthcare plans. If you get injured, these are just insults that can be added to the injury—insults that you pay for.

New Jersey Democrat Tom Pascrell pushed back against GOP hypocrisy over Obamacare at a Congressional hearing. If Obamacare has a flat, Republicans don’t want to change the tire. They want to push the whole car into the ditch and leave it there.

Greta van Susteren at Fox News interviewed the woman with the $54 insurance plan from the CBS News story, and did a better job journalistically than CBS did. Of course, you could do better than CBS did by asking the woman virtually any question. Unlike CBS, Van Susteren actually asked the woman about hospitalization coverage. The woman said “I’m a little confused about it.” Sweetie, if you think you get anything in the way of hospitalization, then you are not confused. You are just plain wrong.

The policy the woman had was incredibly and intentionally confusing. You can’t blame her for not being able to understand it. You can, however, blame CBS News for not being able to understand it. CBS was out-reported by Fox’s Greta Van Susteren. How bad does your reporting have to be when it’s worse than the reporting on a channel that intentionally tries to misrepresent the stories? Greta at Fox got closer to the truth here than CBS—and it’s the job of everybody at Fox News to stay as far away from the truth as possible.

Fox News actually did something right. But don’t worry—they corrected it immediately. Or should I say that they “incorrected” it? Shortly after her talk with Greta Van Susteren, Dianne Barrett was told that all of her upcoming scheduled appearances on Fox News were cancelled. Sorry, Dianne, but once the truth about your situation came out, you were no longer of any use to Fox News.

Today’s Homework | Discuss | Blog Archive

Health & Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius testified in front of Congress today and took responsibility for the botched rollout...

Read more: http://www.randirhodes.com/articles/daily-blog-380723/on-todays-show-wed-oct-30-11784145/#ixzz2jFLhayaD

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Media Failure (via: Randi Rhodes)

NBC reported that “50 to 75 percent of the 14 million consumers who buy their insurance individually can expect to receive a ‘cancellation’ letter or the equivalent.” They didn’t mention that the equivalent is a letter explaining that they’re getting a better package. Those “cancellations” are on policies that don’t meet the standards required under the new law. You’re not getting kicked off your policy so much as you’re getting kicked up to a better one. Republicans seized on the inaccuracies in the story to attack Obamacare. I’m sure they’re grateful for any situation where they don’t have to make up their own inaccuracies. Anytime the mainstream media gets a story wrong, they save the rightwing echo chamber the trouble of making up a wrong story from scratch.

Meanwhile, CBS News featured a story of a woman who will be paying 10 times more under Obamacare than what she paid for her old health insurance. It’s a story almost as disturbing as the story of the misreporting that went into the story. Dianne Barrette got a notice that her new health plan under Obamacare will cost her 10 times that $54. Sweetie, that’s because your new health coverage provides things the old one didn’t... like health coverage. Only a moron could look at this story and not see what’s going on. On that note, yes, Dianne has already been booked onto three Fox News shows. So a lot of morons will get to look at this story.

The Wall Street Journal has published a blistering op-ed attacking Obamacare written by Suzanne Somers. And yes, I made sure that I was not accidentally reading the Onion or some other satirical news site. Ted Cruz couldn’t get Obamacare repealed, but this Suzanne Somers thing might finally tip the scales. I think that we can all agree that if Blair from the Facts of Life joins in on this, then Obamacare is toast. The White House needs to respond to this right away. Somebody see if Loni Anderson is available.

Finally, this Friday 48 million people will see their food stamp benefits reduced. But most of the media won’t see that happening to them. A family of three will get $29 less per month in food stamps... which for many families means getting that much less per month in food.

Today’s Homework | Discuss | Blog Archive

“Are you serious?!” Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) smacks down a Repub at today’s a hearing on Obamacare (story)...


Read more: http://www.randirhodes.com/articles/daily-blog-380723/on-todays-show-tue-oct-29-11780261/#ixzz2jAAvdheP

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Boycott Koch Products - Boycott Koch Brothers

The Norman Goldman Show
Want to NOT support the Koch brothers? Take a look at this: http://www.boycottkochbrothers.com/

Koch Products & Companies Include:
- Angel Soft
- Angel Soft Ultra
- Brawny paper towels
- Dixie cups (& napkins & plates)
- Insulair cups
- Perfect Touch cups, paper products
- Quilted Northern
- Sparkle paper towels
- Stainmaster
- Vanity Fair napkins & paper towels
- Mardis Gras napkins
- Zee Napkins
- Georgia Pacific products


Home/Office papers:
- Advantage
- Image Plus
- Spectrum

Other:
- American Greetings
    (Kochs own minority
     share)
- Guardian Glass
    (Kochs own 44%)

- Stainmaster
- Lycra
- Teflon

Building supplies:
- Georgia Pacific

- Holiday Companies
- Gander Mountain
- American Greetings

Friday, October 4, 2013

Caught Scheming (via Randi Rhodes)


It’s Friday, ya bastids!

Meanwhile, a live mic picked up Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell talking to each other candidly about strategy in the government shutdown fight. Rand says that he doesn’t think that Democrats “poll tested” their use of the phrase “we won’t negotiate.” That’s right, Rand—not everybody has to poll test the things they say because most people wouldn’t otherwise be saying things that horrify people. Rand relies on poll-tested phrases because he learned long ago that if he just says what he’s really thinking then nobody would vote for him—even in Kentucky!

Storms are bearing down on the US, as government meteorologists have been sent home due to the shutdown. It’s like a perfect storm of Republican stupidity.
The lack of meteorologists is no problem to the Republican base. They just think “Meteorologists? Hell, we ain’t gonna get hit by no meteors.”

Along with shutting down the government, I think the Republicans have shut down whatever brains they had left. With that in mind, they should probably shut their mouths down too. Alex Jones was calling the car chase/shooting death incident in DC a “false flag” operation even while it was still ongoing! Everything is a false flag to Alex. Does he even think that real flags exist?

Glenn Beck says that Obama’s next move after shutting down the national monuments is going to be mass killings of millions of people. Then maybe the House Republicans should pass a CR. It will foil Obama’s diabolical plot and save millions of lives.

Republican Congressman Todd Rokita was having a back and forth with CNN anchor Carol Costello when he suddenly seemed to want to make it into a whole another kind of back and forth. Rokita said “Carol, you’re beautiful but you need to be honest as well.” I’ve heard of Republican talking points. What is this, some kind of creepy Republican sweet-talking points? I hope that occurred close to the end of Carol Costello’s show, because I bet she felt that she needed to take a shower as soon as possible.

Today’s Homework | Discuss | Blog Archive

Congressman Mike Doyle (D-PA) recites an excellent viral tweet that beautifully captures the Republicans’ idea of compromise...

Read more: http://www.randirhodes.com/articles/daily-blog-380723/on-todays-show-fri-oct-4-11712171/#ixzz2goAkASX9