Republican in-fighting between conservatives and the neo-fascist radicals that have been challenging them, derailed the Farm Bill in 2012. This year Boehner, Cantor and McCarthy agreed to slash food stamps really badly and figured they would pass the bloated bill subsidizing wealthy farming operations (and scammers on the Upper East Side of Manhattan). They figured wrong. For too many of the extremists, slashing wasn't want they wanted. They want the program... well, drown in a bathtub.So on Thursday, Boehner and crew passed the bill without a single Democratic vote, not even from the worst, most right-wing mangy Blue Dogs and New Dems. Even "Democrats" like Jim Matheson (Blue Dog-UT), Bill Owens (New Dem-NY), Sean Patrick Maloney (New Dem-NY), John Barrow (New Dem/Blue Dog-GA), Patrick Murphy (New Dem-FL), Ron Barber (New Dem-AZ), Kyrsten Sinema (New Dem-AZ), Pete Gallego (Blue Dog-TX), Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX), Mike McIntyre (New Dem/Blue Dog-NC)-- whose default positions are to vote Republican-- abandoned Boehner and Cantor on this one. Not even the corrupt servant of the AgriBusiness lobbyists, Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN), could bring himself to vote for this monstrosity.The bill failed on June 20th-- 195-234-- because 62 Republicans refused top vote for it. Thursday only 12 voted against it. So 50 switched their votes because they preferred a version with NO food stamps over the earlier version which just severely cut back the food stamps program. These are the animals who voted NO on June 20th and YES on Thursday:
• Michele Bachmann (R-MN)• Gus Bilirakis (R-FL)• Kevin Brady (R-TX)• Jim Bridenstine (R-OK)• Paul Broun (R-Pit of Hell)• Steve Chabot (R-OH)• Mike Coffman (R-CO)• Doug Collins (R-GA)• Tom Cotton (R-AR)• John Culberson (R-TX)• Jeff Duncan (R-SC)• John Fleming (R-LA)• Scott Garrett (R-NJ)• Louie Gohmert (R-TX)• Bob Goodlatte (R-VA)• Trey Gowdy (R-SC)• Tom Graves (R-GA)• Joe Heck (R-NV)• Jeb Hensarling (R-TX)• Robert Hurt (R-VA)• Jim Jordan (R-OH)• Raul Labrador (R-ID)• Doug Lamborn (R-OK)• Leonard Lance (R-NJ)• Tom Massie (R-KY)• Pat Meehan (R-PA)• Jeff Miller (R-FL)• Mick Mulvaney (R-SC)• Scott Perry (R-PA)• Robert Pittenger (R-NC)• Joe Pitts (R-PA)• Mike Pompeo (R-Koch)• Bill Posey (R-FL)• Tom Price (R-GA)• Trey Radel (R-FL)• Scott Rigell (R-VA)• Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA)• Keith Rothfus (R-PA)• Ed Royce (R-CA)• Paul Ryan (R-WI)• Steve Scalise (R-LA)• David Schweikert (R-AZ)• Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI)• Bill Shuster (R-PA)• Chris Smith (R-NJ)• Steve Stockman (R-TX)• Marlin Stutzman (R-IN)• Brad Wenstrup (R-OH)• Frank Wolf (R-VA)• Don Young (R-AK)
Surprised to find Paul Ryan on that list? Jim Hightower wouldn't be: "The GOP’s budget demigod in the U.S. House, Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI), expressed this dogma in a fanciful homily deriding America’s safety net as "a hammock that lulls able-bodied people to lives of dependency and complacency.” This from a guy whose family’s wealth was gained from government contacts and who has spent practically all of his adult life in the sweet-swaying hammock of congressional privilege, presently drawing $174,000 a year from Old Uncle Sugar."
Behind this faux-philosophical push are the smiling barons of corporate America. Without jobless payments, you see, desperate millions will be forced to whatever low-wage, no-benefit, dead-end jobs the barons design.What’s at work here is a profoundly awful ethical phenomenon that has seeped into the top strata of American society: Our nation’s corporate and political elites have developed an immunity to shame.It has become morally acceptable in those lofty circles to enrich themselves while turning their backs on the rest of us. Even more damning, they feel free to slash America’s already tattered safety net, leaving more holes than net for the workaday majority of Americans who’ve been knocked down by an ongoing economic disaster created by these very elites.
Odd that the U.S. announced a $116.5 billion monthly surplus Thursday, just before the GOP decided to try to end the food stamps program. Maybe they want to save that money for another war soon. Meanwhile, Congressional Progressive Caucus Co-Chairs Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) and Keith Ellison (D-MN) released a joint statement after the grotesque vote.“The bill passed today will increase hunger in America. The removal of the nutrition provisions from the bill will make life harder for working Americans who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to feed their families. Republicans have cleared dinner tables around the country before our children have a chance to eat.“America’s farmers, who will benefit the most from this bill, are against it because they know we shouldn’t have to choose between our farming neighbors and the hungry. The SNAP program provides 47 million people with the assistance they need to buy the food our farmers grow.“Millions of working families are getting by on less and less, but Republicans continue to introduce bills that make it harder to get by in America. The bill passed today makes going hungry a real possibility for too many families. Feeding your children should never be a question in the richest nation in the world.”