Obama to cut services to poor urban Americans, budget director notes

[lonestarnot]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/02/obama-to-cut-services-to-poor-urban-americans-budget-director-notes/

By Reuters
Sunday, February 6th, 2011 -- 6:34 pm


WASHINGTON – The White House budget director offered clues on Sunday to some cuts that President Barack Obama will offer in his fiscal 2012 budget proposal to answer Republican demands for deep spending reductions.

Obama is under strong pressure to cut spending and the U.S. budget deficit after Republicans routed Democrats in last November's congressional elections by pressing for spending cuts.

White House Office of Management and Budget Director Jacob "Jack" Lew wrote in an opinion article for The New York Times that Obama is willing to cut financing in half, saving $350 million, for community service block grants that cities and towns that allocate to grassroots groups for them to provide basic necessities for poor people.

[Skittles]

1. needs to keep his wars on

[lonestarnot]

2. So what exactly is the money used for like meals on wheels? Cab vouchers?

I guess it depends upon where one lives.

[kenny blankenship]

3. "They Have Nowhere Else To Go ®"

("They Have Nowhere Else To Go" and "Fuck 'em, They Have Nowhere Else To Go, So Who They Gonna Vote For, Sarah Palin?" are Registered Trademarks of the Obama Administration)

[grahamhgreen]

28. Great campaign slogan for 2012!

[woo me with science]

4. In the words of my nine-year-old niece,

"You shouldn't take away help for poor people when there aren't enough jobs for poor people, because then what will they do?"

[wellstone dem]

13. She gets it.

Good for her!

[bobbolink]

39. Tell her the obvious... that we will die.

[Xenotime]

87. She sounds like a great liberal.

[Odin2005]

5. What wonderful change!

:sarcasm:

[Horse with no Name]

6. But, he did stand up to the republicans on the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans...

Oh, wait. Never mind.

[Jackpine Radical]

7. Yes, he did. He said they're not going to be permanent.

They're gonna expire sometime. Yeah, that's the ticket. They're gonna expire.

[kenny blankenship]

9. Just like the other ones from before.

[Amonester]

25. And many jobless will not be permanent too.

They're gonna expire sometime, thanks to Obama's cuts.

[bobbolink]

47. "They're gonna expire". You misunderstood. He was talking about us poor folk.

[Autumn]

8. It's not like there anything else that can be cut.

Got to rob Peter to pay Paul, and the rich, and the wars. Someone has to sacrifice. Who better than the poor?


We voted for this shit? :puke:

[bobbolink]

48. Yes, you did.

There were some of us who tried to say this was gonna happen, but we were shouted down, laughed at, and vilified.

Can we now say "We told you so"?

[Autumn]

57. Yes you can bobbolink.

I was very uncomfortable with my vote, because of his record, but McCain/Palin was on the ticket. That is the last time I will ever vote for the "D" when I think that they might just lean the other way. We have nothing to fear but fear it's self.

[bobbolink]

61. Thank you so much! Your words mean a lot.

The suffering this will bring is just more than I can bear to think about. :cry:

I would like to think that a lot of you will take this up as a strong protest, but I know that won't happen. We poor folk are alone and on our own.

[Hydra]

104. Yup, but there are a lot of us :p

So we may have to do it ourselves, but we're hardly alone.

[WCGreen]

107. Lack of record was what made me support him only when he won

the nomination.

[lonestarnot]

108. Can I just say, if that other ticket had won, you may already be dead.

[bobbolink]

110. EVen W didn't make cuts like this, the foodstamp cuts, the cuts of disability!

I know Dems want me to believe the Dems give a damn, but the record isn't showing it.

Rather than argue with that, how about working to overturn these cuts?!

[lonestarnot]

112. And you think his shit didn't lead us to the point we are now. Cuts have not been made yet.

I plan to do everything within my power to stop them, and I don't have much power alone.

[bobbolink]

113. Oh for gawd's sake... the lack of any compassion here is sooo telling.

You dumped on me rather than hearing the pain, then you dump more because I pointed out the obvious.

Keep cheerleading and ignoring the suffering... it does soooo much to build support for the party among poor people. Then you will complain when we give up because of the indifference and criticism like this and stop voting.

Do us a favor.. put yourself in our shoes, and look at how your words look. Not too pretty, is it?

[lonestarnot]

118. Take a fucking chill pill. You have no idea of my situation and I do not intend to discuss it here.

[bobbolink]

120. Right back atcha. Learn some HUMAN compassion.

[lonestarnot]

122. hmmmf WTF are you about anyway?

[Autumn]

128. Can I just ask, since our ticket won,

why the fuck is it okay for them to look out for the rich and screw the poor? Is that supposed to make it better that is our ticket proposing these cuts to the most vulnerable? Yeah we can all call, write, fax and beg (which is something we should not have to do with a Democratic administration) and guess what? They will do what they want and ignore us, just like the tax breaks, insurance finance reform and everything else.

Sorry neither side is all that great. Hell of a slogan, HEY, WE ARE NOT AS BAD AS THE OTHER TICKET.

[roxiejules]

116. Act of defiance

Ralph Nader in a CNN poll a few days before the 2008 presidential election had an estimated 3 percent of the electorate, or about 4 million people, behind his candidacy. But once the votes were counted, his support dwindled to a little over 700,000. Nader believes that many of his supporters entered the polling booth and could not bring themselves to challenge the Democrats and Barack Obama. I suspect Nader is right. And this retreat is another example of the lack of nerve we must overcome if we are going to battle back against the corporate state. A vote for Nader or Green Party candidate Cynthia McKinney in 2008 was an act of defiance. A vote for Obama and the Democrats was an act of submission. We cannot afford to be submissive anymore.

“The left has nowhere to go,” Nader said. “Obama knows it. The corporate Democrats know it. There will be criticism by the left of Obama this year and then next year they will all close ranks and say ‘Do you want Mitt Romney? Do you want Sarah Palin? Do you want Newt Gingrich?’ It’s very predictable. There will be a year of criticism and then it will all be muted. They don’t understand that even if they do not have any place to go, they ought to fake it. They should fake going somewhere else or staying home to increase the receptivity to their demands. But because they do not make any demands, they are complicit with corporate power.

-Chris Hedges
http://www.truth-out.org/the-left-has-nowhere-go66504

[browntyphoon]

10. This is BS. We should be cutting foreign aid way before domestic aid,

[Bigmack]

19. Whaaat? Foreign aid is 1% of our budget. nt

[browntyphoon]

23. You think a few billion won't do wonders here?

[Jackpine Radical]

35. Hell yes. There are any number of investment bankers that could use a few bil more.

[Catherina]

11. Change indeed n/t

[Toon Me Out]

12. ACK.

[Edweird]

21. A lifetime ago I was a manager of a pizza place. I had a driver that resembled 'Bill The Cat'.

He went by the name 'Gonzo'.

[Fuddnik]

52. A friend of mine has Bill the Cat tattooed on his arm.

[amandabeech]

22. Bill the Cat already got his. What does he care? He played electric tongue for Deathtongue

and Billy and the Boingers.

I heard that he had a good investment advisor and is set for life.

[Fuddnik]

51. Double ack!

[inna]

14. a fucking republican could not get away with some of this shit.

:puke:

[bobbolink]

50. Exactly. It takes a Dem to sentence poor people to death.

Clinton did it very well, and has successfully advised Obama to do the same.

But that's OK... its not like he has to fear an uprising from his voting fans.

[grahamhgreen]

53. +1

[FiveGoodMen]

69. Which is why they allowed a "Democrat" to win.

[undeterred]

15. So thats what happens when you elect a community organizer - he changes

himself.

[CrispyQ]

49. ...

[glinda]

16. More Churches preaching while they are feeding....

[Lifelong Protester]

17. End the wars. Cut defense bloat. NOW!

Quit trying to toady to the rich elite who don't need you. The poor need a champion, not the wealthy elite.

[bobbolink]

56. And who is going to then make sure those funds go to poverty?

Its not like we are important.

Face it, if there were suddenly more funds, DUers would want "green energy", help for animals, and a whole lot of other things.

I repeat... its not like our lives are important.

[lonestarnot]

109. bobbolink, you cannot speak for all DUers like that. I do not agree.

[Lifelong Protester]

114. are you arguing with me now? I thought we were on the same

wavelength?

the poor need a champion, I repeat.

[ProSense]

18. Here is the relevant text from

Lew's op-ed

<...>

Yet for the past 30 years, these grants have been allocated using a formula that does not consider how good a job the recipients are doing. The president is proposing to cut financing for this grant program in half, saving $350 million, and to reform the remaining half into a competitive grant program, so that funds are spent to give communities the most effective help.

Another difficult cut is a reduction of $125 million, or about a quarter of current financing, to the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, which supports environmental cleanup and protection. And a third is a reduction in the Community Development Block Grant program. These flexible grants help cities and counties across the nation finance projects in areas like housing, sewers and streets, and economic development in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods.

While we know from mayors and county leaders how important these grants are for their communities, and are very aware of the financial difficulties many of them face, the sacrifices needed to begin putting our fiscal house in order must be broadly shared, and we are proposing to cut this program by 7.5 percent, or $300 million.

These three examples alone, of course, represent only a small fraction of the scores of cuts the president had to choose, but they reflect the tough calls he had to make. And as he made them, his administration tried to make sure that there was no undue burden on any one program or area. We also asked agencies outside the freeze to do their part as well. The Department of Defense, for instance, will have its financing plan cut by $78 billion over the next five years, bringing spending down to zero real growth after a decade of healthy increases, and we are eliminating programs like the C-17 transport plane that have broad support but that we do not need and cannot afford.

The budget is due out February 14. Not sure what the purpose of this op-ed was, as it raises more questions than it answers. Why mention specifics out of context?

[CTyankee]

36. I've read it over carefully twice and he is saying outright that the poor with have to share

in the "sacrifices." He suggests that perhaps the local agencies may not be doing a good job with the money but that could be addressed in strengthening the requirements for getting the money. But in the next sentence he just says "we want to cut their budget."

This makes no sense at all. Are we back to the "welfare queen" rationale from the Reagan era?

[SammyWinstonJack]

41. I like how the middle class/working poor/poor have to share in the 'sacrifices'

while the rich greedy a$$hole$ just rake it all in. Where are their SACRIFICES?

[CTyankee]

44. Iposted earlier about how Joe Scarborough was yelling that he didn't

want taxes raised on him unless Congress gets serious about cutting Medicare, Medicaid and SS. He was downright irate and obnoxious about it. I chalked it up to a hangover from his Super Bowl party...

[bobbolink]

62. Some of us have nothing left to sacrifice except our lives.

Does it matter?

[hfojvt]

67. they have Republican politicians to protect them from sacrifices

If I was in Congress I would be trying to protect the poor and working people, but that would just about make me Tigger.


The wonderful thing about Tigger is - "I'm the only one".

[katnapped]

45. That's exactly it

Are we back to the "welfare queen" rationale from the Reagan era?

The idea is people are less likely to accept any job because of the safety net being there, so need to get rid of it (this straight out of the GOP playbook)

[ProSense]

46. The way I read it

is that there are community agencies that aren't fulfilling their goals. The actual budget might tell a different story since billions in similar grants are issued by various agencies. For example, HUD:

HUD AWARDS $1.4 BILLION TO NEARLY 7,000 LOCAL HOMELESS PROGRAMS – PART OF ADMINISTRATION PLAN TO PREVENT & END HOMELESSNESS

HUD AWARDS $127 MILLION IN GRANTS TO PROTECT THOUSANDS OF CHILDREN FROM LEAD AND OTHER HOME HAZARDS

HUD, HHS ANNOUNCE JOINT EFFORT TO ASSIST NEARLY 1,000 NON-ELDERLY PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES TO MOVE FROM INSTITUTIONS TO INDEPENDENCE

OBAMA ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES NEARLY $73 MILLION IN COUNSELING GRANTS TO HELP FAMILIES FIND AND KEEP HOUSING

[CTyankee]

55. Well, then he should have said what you just posted.

I did not see one mention in this piece about "duplication of efforts." Why wouldn't he state that?

[kenny blankenship]

59. Reagan Era? We never left it.

We voted for a clean break, but we are plainly not allowed to leave.

[WinkyDink]

63. "Poor" EQUALS "sacrifices", FGS, Obama! Cold-hearted bureaucrat.

[hfojvt]

66. "the sacrifices needed"

except by the rich people, who got $40 billion in tax cuts thanks to Obama's surrender to Republicans on tax cuts.

But hey, $350 million here and $125 million there and we may make it to $40 billion at some point. We're already 1.2% of the way there with just those two cuts!! :woohoo:

[StarsInHerHair]

123. yes, taking money from the poorest will NEVER balance the budget

but I know Obama knows this.

[woo me with science]

72. Prosense!

Amazing meeting you here! :rofl:

[Telly Savalas]

121. What context is missing?

It seems pretty clear from the op-ed that services will be cut. It doesn't read "we're changing the formula and saving a few bucks." It's "we're slashing the budget in half and stretching what's left as far as it will go."

It's not like this was written by some jerkoff from the Huffington Post deliberately cherry picking facts to blur the truth. It's a piece by the OMB director. If the Obama Administration isn't intending to make cuts to programs supporting our inner cities, then this guy needs to be fired for writing an op-ed for the most read newspaper in the country saying that it is.

A lot of baseless accusations and stupid bullshit are flung at the Administration from DU, but this is real. Cutting funding to inner-city programs to enable massive spending on unnecessary weapons programs and tax cuts for the rich is like a parent buying fewer fruits and vegetables for their kids to free up a few extra dollars to throw at the payment on their Lexus SUV.

Unlike a lot of Obama's actions that are unpopular at DU, this isn't a means of maneuvering through difficult political constraints nor is it a pragmatic compromise aimed at making the best of a bad situation. It's simply a case of skewed priorities.

[sad sally]

20. The saddest thing is that $350 million - as compared to the entire budget -

is a drop in the bucket, a drop that might mean the difference of life or death for some.

Better that corporations pay no taxes than poor people have a roof over their heads or food in their bellies.
Better that corrupt politicians get their corporate handouts than poor people have a voice in what happens to them.
Better that wallstreet and bankers prosper and get their obscene bonuses than poor people get a living wage job.

[democracy1st]

26. great post thanks!

[Autumn]

58. Great post

:fistbump:

[Bluebear]

24. kick

[burrowowl]

27. Damn him

what is wrong with him!

[SammyWinstonJack]

37. DINO!

[grahamhgreen]

29. K&R to the top. Put down the unrec button! Slowly! On the ground.

[Raine]

30. "Change" it can either be change for the good but unfortunately it

can also be change for the worse ... which is just about all we ever get.

[Lorien]

31. That'll buy how many torpedos and fighter jets?

There's always money for taking lives, but never any for saving lives. :grr:

[upi402]

32. Well put

And how much did the tax break for billionaires add to the deficit? 99 Billion.

[Pacifist Patriot]

42. Yep, that would have been my first thought.

[JDPriestly]

33. This is quite likely the money for homeless shelters.

[lonestarnot]

34. kick

[bobbolink]

38. During the campaign the few of us who dared mention POVERTY were strongly

(and often very snarkily) told how much Obama cares about poor people, because after all, he was a community organizer and he grew up poor (which he didn't).

Where are those people now? Why aren't they admitting they were wrong? Why aren't they pushing Obama to do MORE not less for poor people?

Where ARE you?

[Horse with no Name]

54. Yet...his community organizing stint was suspect from the start

I read an article, tried to share it and got shot down. You know the drill.

[StarsInHerHair]

124. there is a group called UK Uncut, they're using twitter and other social

media "UK Uncut was born in a shop doorway.

On October 27th 2010, just one week after George Osborne announced the deepest cuts to public services since the 1920s, around 70 people ran along Oxford Street, entered Vodafone’s flagship store and sat down. We had shut down tax-dodging Vodafone’s flagship store."....

They are getting organized over there, it is time we begin to do the same here.

...."Austerity-economics is the policy of the powerful. It cannot be stopped by asking nicely. We cannot wait until the next election. If we want to win the fight against these cuts (and we can win) then we must make it impossible to ignore our arguments and impossible to resist our demands. This means building a powerful grassroots mass movement, able to resist the Government cuts at every turn.".....

http://www.ukuncut.org.uk/about

[Urban Prairie]

40. This is just like

Giving more money to the police to patrol the area to protect your home from being robbed, then cutting off funds for firefighters, all the while arsonists are inside attempting to burn your home to the ground.

Obama is protecting the US from "terrorism", while its middle class backbones are being fractured and broken, many joining the working poor, and the working poor will soon join the homeless...to ultimately become ill, starve, and perish.

So whose "freedoms" are our troops "actually" defending and protecting?

Certainly not we of the great unwashed, who are constantly under attack internally by many if not most of our bought and paid for representatives in DC and their global corporate capitalist masters whom they serve.

[Pacifist Patriot]

43. Dammit! I started the day in a pissy mood.

It's not getting any better.

[krabigirl]

60. But he will increase the warfare state, no problem.

[quinnox]

64. Is this more of the change we can believe in?

Why do I get the feeling this is just the beginning of the sacrifices the poor and middle class will have to make. But at least the ultra-rich got to keep their tax cuts!!:woohoo: :patriot:

[bobbolink]

70. It is the beginning unless all of you put an end to it.,

Will you?

[Oak2004]

65. We need to take a hint from the people in Cairo

Unemployed and homeless people and their supporters need to head to Washington, or Wall Street (or if they can't manage to find transportation, their state capitols, or even city halls), and they need to sit there until they get what they need or they die (since they'll die anyway, it's time to die where our deaths are visibly messy).

I'm one of the people who may be seriously affected, or even killed, by our wonderful agent of change. It's extremely difficult for me to get out of the house, but I can tell you I have no plans to die quietly, if that's what TPTB decide I should do for the greater glories of corporatism.

Edited to add that I am completely serious about this. Anyone else in the mood to walk like an Egyptian, I'd like to talk with you. I'd rather die for something than nothing.

[bobbolink]

71. Dammit, I am SO FED UP with people only wanting POOR FOLK to take action!

The very least... the mmost vulnerable, yet we are supposed to make it all change.

Where are the affluent DUers? Everyone out with broken legs and CAN'T TAKE ACTION???!!!

Yes, it pisses me off... this is the constant cry... "Poor people should speak up"

:nuke:

[Oak2004]

105. I don't think it is us who should shoulder the work alone

I think we are the ones with our backs against the wall, and nothing left to lose.

And no one else is stepping up.

[bobbolink]

129. EXACTLY! They will protest for Iraqis but not for US.

:nuke:

"Vote for us, then go to hell."

[Mnemosyne]

115. And how can we afford to 'walk like Egyptians' to DC? Everyone I know

is having a hard time just buying food.

[Oak2004]

125. That's where we need to either enlist help from others or opt for our own city hall or state capitol

Trust me, I am not rich. I live in public housing on SSI only.

Let me clarify something: on a big swath of the east coast DC/Wall Street is only a couple of commuter train tickets away. That swath contains many millions of Americans. Away from that swath, unless you can hitch a ride, your next best bet is state or local seat of government.

And add again: I've panhandled in one day enough to have paid for those tickets, had that been what I wanted to do.

[Mnemosyne]

127. I guess being in BFE, has frustrated me. I cannot even afford

to drive the 35 miles to the doctor most times. People here seem to only worry about themselves, which further frustrates me. I was the town "lady with the signs", not as bad as the cat ladies, but close. :)

I believe I'm getting a bit cynical in my middle age.

:hi:

[cali]

68. urban poor? fucking flat wrong. Most rural communities are at least

as dependent on block grants for Community Action programs as urban communities.

this is horrendous.

[Lucian]

73. Obama: the greatest Republican president since Clinton.

He's been really disappointing as President.

[bobbolink]

74. Disappointing? For poor people he has been a fuckjing disaster!

Yet, "progressives" aren't going to stand up for us and fight this shit, so he will get away with it just fine.


:nuke:

[Lucian]

80. I was trying to be nice.

But yeah, he's been a fucking disaster.

[bobbolink]

81. I understand. However, when people are facing dire suffering and death, being

nice no longer applies.

After 30 years, the Egyptians figured that out. Its now time for us to do the same.

[Lucian]

83. First of all, the people here need to overcome their apathy.

Then, they need to get their fat, couch potato asses off the sofa and do something. Then maybe change will happen.

[bobbolink]

84. THANK YOU! Now, how to get that to happen?

There are so many things that could be done regarding poverty, but people can't be bothered.

Yet, when a poor person gets angry at that, THEN they find their energy... to blast the messenger.

Do you twitter, by any chance?

[Lucian]

96. I don't do twitter.

I find most posts by people on there are uninteresting.

[bobbolink]

98. Asking because there are some good ideas for online activism.

Its been working pretty well for the Egyptians. ^_^

[Lucian]

100. If a revolution is around the corner, I'll join.

Until then, I don't care about what people are eating for supper or how they thought Christina Aguilera sucked during the SB last night.

[bobbolink]

101. Sorry. I didn't mean to push your buttons. Some of us are in dire circumstances, but nevermind.

[Lucian]

102. No I understand.

It's just that most of the stuff on twitter is useless, unless it's used to get a hold of people in dire circumstances, like in Egypt for example.

[bobbolink]

103. I'm not going to argue that. I'm saying that there are other ways to use it...ways that could help

homeless people.

I understand that until it is accomplished that you don't wish to be involved. I got the message.

But I will keep on looking for people who might be willing to do some online activism.

[jtown1123]

75. We don't need to cut anything. We need to spend, We have a jobs crisis.

[bobbolink]

77. Exactly! Example: for every Federal dollar spent on food stamps $1.84 returned to the local economy

Other poverty programs have similar results... subsidized housing even more, plus many jobs.

This just expresses hatred for poor people, that is all.... its NOT about the economy, or he would be making different choices.

[CTyankee]

88. And that hatred results in the middle class being turned against the working class and

the working class turned against the desperately poor. It's a divide and conquer strategy that works well to keep us fighting among ourselves rather than against the well off and the super rich...

[Raksha]

94. That's for damn sure! When is the MIC going to "sacrifice"?

[Whisp]

76. I'll give this story a few more days to find out

that it's a bunch of fake assed bullshit.

like so much other bullshit about Obama hating the poor and stripping them of whatever they may still have.

but you enjoy your 15 seconds of fame

[bobbolink]

78. Thank you for your concern. Maybe you will organize memorials for those who DIE because of these

cuts?

[Whisp]

79. like I said,

by past performance here,

we will all find out in a few days/week or so, that this story is fake and misleading and just self serving to those who hate Obama.

but of course when it is found out to be, erm, slightly inaccurate?, that part will be ignored.

[bobbolink]

82. Yeah, we got what you said. Ignoring the disaster is disgusting... ignoring the results

you don't like is ..... denial.

[Whisp]

91. ...

...

[bobbolink]

97. The best thing you've said all day. Thank you.

[Whisp]

106. such a clever one!

:rofl:

[Telly Savalas]

130. This was an op-ed by the director of the OMB

not some made up shit from Firedog Lake.

[dkofos]

85. Must be the new LET THEM EAT RATS PROGRAM.

[riderinthestorm]

86. I'm hoping this is a trial balloon. Please call the WH and insist that block grants be retained.

Now is not the time to let up!! Please call and let them know this is bullshit!

White House phone contact line: 202-456-1111

[bobbolink]

90. Sadly, no. These aren't the first cuts made. Yet, there is no interest in fighting it.

Thank you for urging people to do more.

My bet is until there are reports of hundreds of thousands of suicides from these cuts, that DUers will do what they have done.... NOTHING.

[riderinthestorm]

92. This is an opinion piece in the NYTimes Bobbolink! This is one route to float this kind of BS.

Don't give up hope!

:hug:

[bobbolink]

99. You're entitled to your opinon. However, telling a homeless person not to give up hope

with an article about cutting even further the piddly amount of money going to poor folk... well, put yourself in my shoes.

Then, much after the fact when word of suicides surface, there is disbelieve and.... lack of caring.

But, yeah, I'll pump up the sunshine.

[Xenotime]

89. Pressure from the rethuglicans.

Mr. Obama just stay your course.

[ReggieVeggie]

93. what will it take?

What will it take for any elected official to suggest that funding should be cut from the wasteful, bloated, fraudulent military?

[Raksha]

95. They should cut the war budget (aka "defense") budget by at least 50%

I get so sick of hearing about "non-defense discretionary spending." The defense budget is every bit as "discretionary" as the food stamp program or any other budget item.

[Oak2004]

111. people in the street

That's the only way the oligarchs have ever or will ever listen.

[spanone]

117. ' opinion article '

[bluestate10]

119. Does not matter. Many here don't like President Obama.

But the interesting issue is that the people that wail on President Obama and corporatist fail to admit that there is some waste in programs for the poor that if eliminated makes services for poor people much more comprehensive. President Obama spent critical years organizing the poor when he could have been making millions in a big-time law firm. I trust President Obama knowing more about how services to the poor work and how some people take advantage of delivery systems than I trust some person that comes from a hot blooded liberal background but have never spent one year working among and living among poor people. People, next time there is an OP about a person buying Super Bowl treats with food stamps, STFU and don't comment. The action of buying Super Bowl treats, liquor or cigarettes with food stamps is exactly the type of waste that damages delivery of services to poor people.

[NCarolinawoman]

126. Total betrayal of Ted Kennedy.

Does Obama ever say to himself, "What would Teddy do?"

Guess not.

Absolute total BETRAYAL.

:thumbsdown: