Usa Thread

[unit731]

http://youtu.be/t4BEY1lZDyg

[Steve]

How the right and Fox News distorts claims of welfare and food stamps.

Here's a guy who used "welfare" to obtain a college degree now condemns such.

 

 

"The Pinocchio Test

Sessions — who says he went to college on Pell Grants, which he lists as a welfare program — clearly wants to jar some of the conventional wisdom about anti-poverty programs. Calling attention to their cost and questioning their effectiveness are certainly worthy endeavors for a lawmaker.

But he runs into trouble with his chart and the shorthand description he gave at the hearing. The comparison to medium income is specious, given that it does not include health-care benefits, while the cost per household appears inflated, given that the programs he lists cover a whole range of programs that assist more than just those in poverty. As we noted on Wednesday, it is a matter of opinion what to consider “welfare.†But the presentation in the chart is simply misleading."

 

LINK

 

Social welfare was and is targeted to 1) get the middle class angry to vote for conservatives and 2) divide and conquer working poor/poor and middle and working classes.

 

Corporate welfare has ALWAYS been way more than social welfare, but no one touches that? why, the companies buy the elections and their lobbyists pretty much bribe congress. There are tons of industries and companies that don't need the money, making a healthy profit and get corporate welfare. Dole gets huge subsidies for ecample (as well as a murky history of being involved in more than a few revolutions in the banana republics of central america decades ago).

 

Its all bullshyt

 

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021807581

 

Also, the face of welfare is often painted as..well..we all know...and as a percentage it is so, but the raw numbers say that its whites not blacks that are on welfare. Also, welfare, as it was designed has been one of the main things to destroy families, especially minority families. When the war on poverty was being discussed in the Johnson administration and into the Nixon one, the government set up a commission to explore poverty and specifically black poverty was part of it. At the time almost a quarter of blacks were born out of wedlock and the commission said any social welfare should keep the family intact. The family, a father in the home was the foundation. So what did the government do? The complete opposite, to qualify for welfare no male over 18 could be in the home. The government replaced the father in essence. So here you have the poor who had no say in creating welfare and we are now criticizing the same program that we created in the first place.

Sorry, I"m a cynic these days. I just see the bullshyt for what it is I guess.

[Steve]

Man left in jail for 4 days, forgotten http://news.yahoo.com/student-left-dea-cell-4-million-us-170408624.html

 

I know it was an accident and oversight but it also illustrates how out of control law enforcement is these days. We really, truly live in a police state. The police can do ANYTHING it wants. Remember the rogque cop in LA that was burned in a cabin? The cops were randomly shooting up cars and people that looked familiar and sometimes didn't look familiar all over the greater LA area. It was indiscriminate. They can enter any home or anything pretty much these days. The test for warrants has sunk very law. ANYTHING is probable cause for judges.

[Flashermac]

At least the police are moving towards neutrality. Nowadays, it doesn't matter what race you are. We all get treated like shite.

[unit731]

We are already in a police state.

 

If you viewed Frontline: Top Secret America you would be amazed at the amount of tax money spent on watching you. And there is no accountability for the tax monies spent.

I have to laugh at all the hoopla - the recent phone data collection issue - all was stated long before in Top Secret America. $$ Billions going to Boeing, Halliburton, Ratheon, and many start ups. Nondescript buildings located all over the country - just to monitor cell phone calls and emails. The boobs in Congress voted for the Patriot Act and Homeland Security - again without reading the bills. It's all there. This is not new.

 

My little hick state now has state police planes, helicopters, and now two drones. The two drones and maybe the rest were "free" - federal grants. We all complain about the deficit and national debt - but none seem to actually complain about all of these grants.

Many think that these grants are actually "free" money.

 

Like the hick town in Georgia that was highlighted by 60 Minutes. Two man police department. The town put in a request grant for a helicopter - got it. Then put a grant request for a hanger. Got both. Brand new. All "free".

But the issue was that this police department had no pilot. No plans to get a pilot.

The new helicopter sat in the new hanger. Just sat there. The mayor/town manager stated that the town has no funds for a pilot. When asked why the police department put in for a grant for helicopter and hanger - he stated because it was there - "free". There were also no funds to maintain the new helicopter - it just sat in the hanger.

 

My little hick town in rural area just placed dozens and dozens and dozens of orange signs with black curve. A private company installed all - even though we do have a public works department. Signs put on residential roads where the speed limit is 30 MPH for miles and miles. We need these signs for roads where speed limit is 30 MPH? Well, you see, all was a federal grant. "Free" signs. This little hick town has 70 miles of rural roads where the speed limit is about 90% - 30 MPH.

 

Waste, fraud, and abuse. All claim to adhere to such concepts. Yet when "free" money is involved - take it. And same will complain about the national deficit and national debt.

The federal government is spending too much money. Yet when it comes locally - love it. Take it. Spend it. And still complain about Washington spending.

[Steve]

So, why are gas prices still at an all time high? Answer: Because the oil companies want them to stay there with the complicity of the government.

 

 

 

http://news.yahoo.com/saudi-arabia-fear-north-dakota-one-man-says-132802213.html

The U.S. is currently enjoying the highest level of oil production in a quarter-century, around 7.56 million barrels a day.

"The prince is right to recognize not just oil shale production in the U.S.," says Kloza, "but in similar geologic areas that will put pressure on the kingdom." He refers to shale deposits in Europe, China and South America. He predicts the oil industry will see "plenty of shale exploration later in this decade" in those regions.

Further helping the U.S., he says, is reduced domestic consumption. "At the same time we're seeing this shale boom, we're using less oil. It's a function of an aging population: After age 55, driving drops off sharply."

Thai Oil Spill Spreads

The U.S. is well on its way, says Kloza, to achieving production of 8 million to 9 million barrels a day of crude. "It was as low as 5 million not that long ago."

The U.S. strategic petroleum reserve currently has a 200-day supply, which he calls a huge cushion. "For years, we had to struggle to get a 90-day supply."

[Steve]

The ultimate blame is us as a collective.

[unit731]

Ted Roosevelt broke up the monopolies. The Rockefeller Standard Oil Company was broken up into Mobil and Esso (Exxon). Billy Clinton allowed Mobil Oil Company and Exxon (Esso) to combine into one company.

[unit731]

"A combination of limited transportation choices, unplanned refinery outages, and outmoded federal policies helps keep US gasoline prices high despite continuing US crude oil production growth, witnesses told the US Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

“Currently, transportation constraints are limiting the full impact of domestic crude oil production, but these constraints are expected to ease in the coming years,†US Energy Information Administration Administrator Adam Sieminski said.

Several pipeline projects that are either proposed or currently under way should increase crude deliveries from inland sources to major refining centers, primarily on the Gulf Coast, Sieminski testified. More Bakken crude also is moving by rail, he said.

Despite current limitations, however, increased US crude production is forcing members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to increase spare production capacity, putting downward pressure on global crude prices and therefore making a repeat of the 2008 oil price spike to $147/bbl unlikely in the coming months, he added.

Regional price volatility is a result of unplanned refinery outages that only keep prices high for 6-8 weeks, Sieminski continued. “Lower US crude prices are going to be reflected in refining margins,†he said. “What the difference allows is for refiners to upgrade their facilities to allow better use of that light sweet crude.â€"

 

 

LINK

[cavanami]

Obamanomics is Betraying the Middle Class

 

http://www.capitolhilldaily.com/2013/08/obamanomics-kills-middle-class/#more

 

With Barack Obama barnstorming the country like it’s October in a presidential election year, I thought we should take a closer look at his latest statements (read: fantasies). The more I hear Obama talk, the more nauseated I become – he’s either the dumbest person ever elevated to the White House, or he’s purposefully trying to destroy the economy. Either way, he’s causing a tremendous amount of damage to America.

His latest crusade is jobs, specifically well-paying jobs for middle-class workers. Nice of him to notice that, since he was elected president, middle-class incomes have dropped like a rock. The latest data shows real income is now down a full 10%.

On top of our non-recovery, we have a mushrooming regulatory morass. And we’re now poised to fall back into recession without ever really recovering in the first place. Even the boot-licking Obama media is honest enough to call what we’re seeing a “jobless recovery.â€

But, ultimately, my question is: How you can have a recovery without jobs?

“As any middle-class family will tell you, we’re not there yet…â€

Obama’s latest stop was at an Amazon.com warehouse in Chattanooga, Tennessee. During his speech, Obama hawked a “grand bargain†on the economy – corporate tax cuts, more infrastructure spending on grand projects and don’t forget the end of sequestration spending cuts.

Allow me to dig a little deeper here. Obama travels around the country moaning about how the middle class has been sledgehammered by the current economy, and then he proceeds to pitch tax reform for big business. As Rep. Paul Ryan opined, Obama is really pitching a “grand bargain for big business.â€...