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Foodstamp Nation In Turmoil: EBT System Goes Dark, "Glitch" Blamed
In the past five years it has become apparent that America can survive a near-fatal financial system collapse, an economy teetering on the edge and kept ticking only thanks to the Fed's now perpetual QE, a collapsing standard of living for everyone but the wealthiest 0.1%, declining wages, zero interest rates, surging food, energy, rent, tuition and welfare costs, and pretty much everything else, as long as the welfare state keeps humming along. Any be welfare state we mostly mean providing the daily bread to the nearly 50 million Americans living in poverty and surviving only thanks to the only thing to have exploded to epic record highs under Obama (in addition to the Fed's balance sheet of course): foodstamp usage. However, the true stability of the US may be tested very soon following reports that due to a "possible computer glitch" the Electronic Benefits Transfer System, aka EBT, ala Foodstamps, is offline. Cue mass panic among the best-weaponized population in the world. Naturally, this latest fiasco involving a country that has grown accustomed to sucking on the government's teat was immediately blamed on a "glitch" - just like everything else that is slowly but surely breaking in the New Normal.
CBS reports:
Reports from around the country began pouring in around 9 a.m. on Saturday that customers’ EBT cards were not working in stores. The glitch, however, did not appear to be part of the government shutdown. At 2 p.m., an EBT customer service representative told CBS Boston that the system was currently down for a computer system upgrade.
The representative said the glitch is affecting people nationwide. She could not say when officials expected the system to be restored.
People calling the customer service line were being told to call back later.
State officials said they were preparing a statement to further explain the issue.
The federal EBT website was unavailable due to the government shutdown.
People in Ohio, Michigan and several other states found themselves unable to use their food stamp debit cards on Saturday, after a routine check by vendor Xerox Corp. resulted in a system failure. Shoppers from Maine to Oklahoma had to abandon baskets of groceries because they couldn't access their benefits.
Ohio's cash and food assistance card payment systems went down at 11 a.m., said Benjamin Johnson, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. Ohio's cash system has been fixed, however its electronic benefits transfer card system is still down. All states that use Xerox systems are affected by the outage.
Xerox spokeswoman Karen Arena confirmed via email Saturday afternoon that some EBT systems are experiencing temporary connectivity issues. She said technical staff is addressing the issue and expects the system to be restored soon.
As a reminder, this is how many Americans and households were on foodstamps as of the most recent monthly update (hint: a record).
And now, it's time for the sequel to @MrEBT's hit masterpiece: "My EBT... has been rejected."
Xerox Statement on Temporary EBT Systems Outage
During a routine test of our back-up systems Saturday morning, Xerox’s Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) system experienced a temporary shutdown. While the system is now up and running, beneficiaries in the 17 affected states continue to experience connectivity issues to access their benefits. This disruption impacts EBT beneficiaries who rely on the system for SNAP and WIC. Technical staff is addressing the issue and expect the system to be restored soon. Beneficiaries requiring access to their benefits can work with their local retailers who can activate an emergency voucher system where available. We appreciate our clients’ patience while we work through this outage as quickly as possible.
In short: Cue panic, because while the Nasdaq may be down for 3 hours and only a few vacuum tubes would notice, take down EBT, and you will have a full-fledged revolution in no time.
NOBODIES EBT CARD IS GOING THRU AT WALMART
—
Jazmen Ashley (@jazmen04o25) October 12, 2013
EBT cards in many states aren’t working today, and as you might expect, some Walmart shoppers aren’t very happy.
"@Creamteam_bitch: Government done shut down the #EBT cards in Ga… These folks going crazy in walmart lol"swearrrr—
J A N A E (@JanaeHudson) October 12, 2013
Walmart just made an announcement on the intercom that EBT for the state of Georgia is down…there are now full carts Left everywhere #awk—
Kelly gentry (@KellyKgentry23) October 12, 2013
EBT is down so Walmart is complete chaos right now, so glad I'm leaving in 2 hours—
Chelsey Oliveira (@chelseyoliveira) October 12, 2013
EBT down at walmart and MF going crazy!—
Lorena Bobbitt (@iNoUliKmYdReAdZ) October 12, 2013
THEY DONE SHUT DOWN EBT CARDS IN MISSISSIPPI…… Walmart fulla mad motha fuckas right now—
J.Thrash (@dreadsANDretros) October 12, 2013
I almost just killed some people at Walmart, EBT is apparently down today #madhouse—
cassidy davis (@cassEdav) October 12, 2013
EBT isnt being accepted at walmart and people are going crazy.—
Rudy Huxtable ? (@ForevaHisBadass) October 12, 2013
Walmart is in here announcing they not taking EBT due to state wide issues ???? ppl in here PISSED! Lol—
MS. UPTOWN (@MZUPTOWN) October 12, 2013
Heard a fight broke out at Walmart cause ppl EBT card stopped working lmao—
Pricetag (@AtoDa) October 12, 2013
in Huntsville Alabama,they are refusing ebt/food stamp cards at walmart. my daughter works there and says it's getting really bad—
dani (@danid373) October 12, 2013
Working at walmart while EBT is fucking up <<< I just might get shot today. Lol.—
. (@_KaylaJeann) October 12, 2013
Then again, every cloud has its silver lining:
OMG. MULTIPLE LANES OPEN! CASHIERS BEGGING FOR CUSTOMERS! IF ONLY EBT MACHINES WERE DOWN EVERY DAY!!!!! (at @walmart) 4sq.com/18YjLvZ—
Carolyn Ingold (@angelady1127) October 12, 2013
#EBT down?! Sweet, I can go to Walmart today! It'll be empty!!—
KatieKaBoom (@Katie_Ka_Boom1) October 12, 2013
Welcome to the Obama economy.
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Hey knukles, great link. As anyone who's ever written code knows, writing is easy, testing is the hard part. The only way the solve it is free street drugs on EBT!
I guess Tyler will have to report himself for making off color remarks.
I think you got jumped because dark is not a color per se. Tough crowd ZH is.
Hey Daddy-O:
The tylers have no sense of humor except for that known as ridicule. This is pretty sad when we are so awash in irony.
Anyway, they are nice people, but they do get things twisted at times, like this:
"-------a country that has grown accustomed to sucking on the government's teat was immediately blamed on a "glitch"--------"
That sort turns my stomach and I do not live in the US, but----
"------sucking on the government's teat-----", when that same fascist piece-of-shit-on-the-side-of-the-bankers-and-MIC government bleeds the 99.9% of the population to death seems a wee bit unjust.
What is going on here, Tylers? Whose side are you on------and please don't tell me you don't have a side; or, if that is true accept my humble apology.
What say ye, Tylers?
I think Daddy-O got junked because his post smacked of knee-jerk defensiveness of blacks. They're more dependent by design; remember that our greatest president, LBJ, said after setting up the welfare/pay for dependent babies state, "ni99ers will be voting for us for the next 100 years.". The left LOVES the fact that black families have disintegrated and faux pride has replaced genuine pride in much of the black race. The only thing the Demonrats like more than making blacks dependent on the state is killing them before they're born. The only thing Demonrats hate more than blacks are working whites with an income over the poverty line. Other than all that, Demonrats are great.
Lprena Bobbit can blow me.... Wait.... Is that the famous Lorena Bobbit?
That's why the made the movie about 24 hours of lawlessness, etc. Hehe...
edit: OT post previously here moved down.
I think I'll curl up with that one tonight with some BBQ.
Thanks for the reminder.
I'd remove the third "1" from that equation if things go as I believe they will.
Fucking riot in aisle 5. Walmart gone wild!
"11/11/13 bitches - everything goes dark."
Yo Fish.
Something about the energy in your statement.
What gives?
Care to elaborate??
Anyone in the crew want to expound on this???
11/13/13
I think, was the date he may have been referring to. There will be a drill that day, a simulation of the power grid going down. Lots of corps involved.
Complete, total and utter bullshit ...
Lock'n'Load, bitchez.
The FSA takes on that "walking dead" look & attitude if they don't get this fixed within a day or two.
EBT system being down is just one more check mark in getting all the players at each others throats.
Wait till you see the woman from Cleveland's new video on youtube when she can't get her card to work.
She'll go off like a Titan IV...
DaddyO
Is this the same kind of glitch that is plaguing the stompyfeet-care system, or is this a symptom of a larger glitch that the shutdown is supposed to be covering up?
+ 1
Probably all of the above.
BECAUSE OBAMA*
*must be capitalized for emphasis.
Is she related to the same dumb bitch that said after barry's first election
"He gonna pays my mortgage! and put gas in my carz!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P36x8rTb3jI
First the new NSA data center does a Tesla.
Now this.
There are no coinicidences, as dectectives say.
The writing's been on the wall for a while now... It's really sad FSA zombies can't read,
a Titan IV painted Dark
Call me depraved, but...
I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THE YOUTUBE VIDEOS !!!
Then we'll get a look at what people who get free food frum da gov really think when the trough goes dry.
btw, I think the trough runs deepest for the banksters.
Still not resolved yet? In that case, I think it starts fairly imminently. Sundown in the Eastern time zone is pretty quick.
The plot thickens.
And I thought the riots over $150 Nikes was bad....wait till the Christmas rush!
If Obomber holds to his "no negotiation" and subsequently crashes the system. He will have gone from a d-bag to possibly the greatest pres ever..
Whatta ya trying to say?
He can't be the Greatest D-bag President ever?
The word you are looking for is 'yet'. Alternatively, 'so far'.
Not always going to up arrow Pure Evil, but darn you sure are funny!
Bless the evil that transcends to the higher Light!
The absolute Highest Light...is Absolute Love.
Just ask your heart.
>> correlation between you title and the color of the majority of EBT users?
36 percent were white (non-Hispanic), 22 percent were African American (non-Hispanic) and 10 percent were Hispanic
My title was in black. Was yours white?
Easy there big boy, it was meant as a joke. The title is what it is but it all played into the whole rayciss meme concerning welfare and the video in the article was just icing on the cake.
Peace
DaddyO
edit: I did not give the red downer...
What were the missing 32%? Mulatto?
I though that was accounted for as 16% white, 16% black as per politically correct mathematical analysis
So should we dole out .gov welfare based on overall population percentage?
I've long been an advocate of only allowing for so much from the budget and dividing it up by percentage of population by race.
Not a very popular notion I'm sure.
DaddyO
Daddio, anything, at this point, is a good start
Damn redneck
Know wonder I like U
Keith? It just occurred to me that you might be an old friend from Chi-Town. If not, apologies.
Ever noticed that White people aren't really white. Most of us are some shade of Pink. Pink people. Doesn't sound so - I don't know - impressive, does it?
Kinda wimpy....
Pink people
If not totally misconstrued as gay bashing
Yeah, I watched a comedy routine from a black (really black) comedian who came onstage and said, "Hello, my name is George Wallace. I know, you MFers think that's funny already, dontcha? But really, I don't see no white people here. When you're mad, you turn red. When you're cold, you look sorta blue. Me? I'm dark brown. When I'm mad, I'm still brown. When I'm cold, still brown.
People say that I evolved from the jungle, and white people evolved from the sea. That's probably true-'cos I feel the jungle in me all the time, and you MFers smell funny when you get wet."
Then there was a bit on busfare: "If I gotta give you exact change, then you need to take me exactly where I want to go!
Wonder where he is now?
Rikers?
Man, I hope not. That dude nearly made me pee my pants!
Confused.
The missing 32% are 'undocumented'.
GreatBeard... cannot follow your math... you have 68% there? Is the remaining 32% Darkies? The unknowns probably include othe, non-african blacks Blacks make up 12% of population and twice that % of EBT users. Whites represent 72% of population and less than 1/2 that % are the white EBT users.
There is NO WAY I believe that only 10% are Hispanic, but I am in california
Piss off you tiresome troll... Prey tell what percent of Blacks are on welfare, and what percent of whites of their respective populations? Do tell!
Such a simple bitch, you musta thought you were commenting on Huffpro or some such...
...so tiresome.
With regard to AFDC the figures are:
White 38.8%
Black 39.8
Hispanic 15.7
Asian 2.4
other 3.3
Google is your friend...
But please dont let litle things like facts get in the way of your arguement. Now lets try a little math, dot want to loose you here. Multiply .398 x the number of folks on the dole. Now compare that to the number of Blacks in the US... kinda shocking huh? Something on the order of 70+ percent...... But hey only Crackers use figures and numbers....
.....
......
EBT is the new soup kitchen.
Keeps the masses compliant and filled with high calorie low nutrition, over processed monsanto food stuff.
Quote by Lyndon Johnson on the Great Society
“I'll have those niggers voting Democratic for the next 200 years. [Touting his underlying intentions for the "Great Society" programs, LBJ confided with two like-minded governors on Air Force One]”"It's been terrible," Shook said in a phone interview. "It's just been some angry folks. That's what a lot of folks depend on."
Da gov shut off my damb ebt card! LOLHistory re-write; I'm pretty sure LBJ said 'democrat' not democratic ...
Are you a democrat or a democratic? Looks like a noun/adjective conflict there ...
Woman goes crazy in Ohio when EBT card doesn't work at McDonalds to purchase chicken McNuggets. Punches McDonalds employee in the face.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvquWMXuup4
And so it begins.....
Those super sayan's aren't to be trifled with..
I can't fucking believe you can buy shit from McDonalds with food stamps.
thanks to that peculiarly 'Merikan phenom that made our cuntry what it is (wuz) = MARKETING. Mcd found out how to qualify goods - i'd guess maybe only or the leader = 20pc Mcnuggets
Why not? They're a multinational corporation aren't they?
Look at the date. Has nothing to do with this.
Paging Mr. Matt Bracken...
http://westernrifleshooters.wordpress.com/2012/09/03/bracken-when-the-mu...
Bearish for stripper and malt liquor revenue streams.
When the music stops. Read Matt Bracken, bitchez!
http://westernrifleshooters.wordpress.com/2012/09/03/bracken-when-the-music-stops-how-americas-cities-may-explode-in-violence/
http://westernrifleshooters.wordpress.com/2013/10/09/bracken-will-obama-stop-the-music-this-november/?share=twitter&nb=1
Thanks for those prescient links, sadmamapatriot!
"... If this is their calculation, it is a diabolical plan indeed. But a plan to ride a tiger is not the same as riding the tiger. Permanent rule by emergency decree may not be as simple to accomplish ..."
In light of all the other kinds of false flag attacks, I find it all too plausible to imagine someone deliberately causing the EBT "glitches," knowing how extremely bad that situation could quickly become ... or maybe it was just a test? 50 million people unable to buy food, most of whom never had any practical way to ever prepare for that!
Personally, I continue in the situation where my immediate environment, and my understanding of history, in light of the various runaway problems, have almost no overlap. My real situation remains quite comfortable, while my imagination conjures up nightmare scenarios. Of course, that has been the way it was since I was a teenager, and first learned about how the real world was based on exponential growth, backed up by atomic bombs.
" I find it all too plausible to imagine someone deliberately causing the EBT "glitches," "
Apply Occam's razor nullwit; shit fails, just MOST of the time the fallback systems work ...
I see two factors not considered here.
1. Social media - Telco can ping & kill it in a heartbeat.
2. Slow LOE response time. They'll bring in the drones first.
Hmmm ... another 'Thunder Cat' post ...
#swipitagain #bitchez
You can't spell debt without ebt.
Unfortunately for your 'take' on reality:
most of the EBT clients in the US are WHITE. OOPS.
Kinda, also the people i9n apalachia who have it don't have computers.
A tropical haven of natural beauty, the coastline of the province is skimmed by gentle coves and white sand beaches.Handmade leather jackets
"Ain't nobody got time fo dat."
Testing testing...
Amen! Lots of testing testing these days...
Hmmm. Lots of glitches in 2013, bitchez.
or how about just "Glitches, bitchez"?
Looks like some bitches 'bout to be 'losin some weight....
I hope they keep it down for 24 hours. Just a test. Manhattan will be a fucking jungle.
Is this part of "Hope and Change"? Or is this "Moar Recovery"? So hard to tell anymore...
EBT RayCovary
You gotta give Obummer credit. He really is testing out all the systems. I think he knew taking down the Nasdaq would not really bother anyone. But wow man...leave the ebt system offline for 6 hours and the 11pm news should be really interesting.
This is some crazy shit. Next thing you know they'll be sending out roving gangs of (undercover police) motorcyclists to attack families in their SUVs or something.
I saw that movie.
It will take more than 24. At 72 hours, though, life will start getting interesting. I can't imagine what two weeks would result in.
People streaming out of inner cities robbing, rioting and wholesale pillaging and looting of the strip malls, shopping centers and suburbs.
They view the stuff as necessary for living... and rightfully after all these years.
The Great Society made a fucking Monster.
Fuck me, could be a great reason for Martial Law... especially needing for the gubamint to be best prepared in Region III ....
Think about that one, folks....
Last year, last month, last week were all great times to prepare. Yesterday was fairly good. Today might be a tad late. Tomorrow (Sunday), uhh, ahh, well.......
Yeah, a lot of places are closed on Sunday
LOL
Tomorrow $20 would still get you a couple weeks of rice, beans, and cooking oil easily. Maybe even have some $ left over for spam.
Unfortunately pointy sticks is all that can be had for self defense, though. Speaking of which, anyone know if the shutdown is impacting firearm backround checks?
Background checks are done by the states, no? Should be good to go, assuming you have three days that you can wait around (like in my state). Yet another reason I should get a CWP (CCP), the card allows you to "cash & carry" right out of the gun store.
@ seek
9:56 PM US ET
I just got back from the grocery store. No concerns I could pick up on. I did but instant rice, beans, canned carrots and 3 liters of (glass) bottled water. Under $14.
$500 more came out of the bank while I was there.
Food is cheap insurance :)
My rule of thumb is if it's on the bottom shelf, marked WIC, and has to be cooked in water it's cheap, healthy and a go-to survival staple.
(I sit on a shitload on freeze-dried yummies as well.)
Background checks are done by NICS, a sub tentacle of the EF BEE EYE.
They are still taking calls and weren't affected by .gov shutdown.
ZH'ers, the FEMA camps are there for our protection. Dear leader has your back.
@fonz
And just today, the misses was telling me she saw a couple with a child at the Starbucks kiosk inside the grocery asking if she could pay with her EBT card. Vital.
I say it takes a hell of a lot less than 72 hours. I am guessing 24 hours before the cops start earning their overtime for a change.
Take away the "free" and you re left with the shit army. Good luck with that.
The "Angry Shit Army", as in "Yo, mothafuckah, all gimme dat shit o I be pokin yo Lilly white honkey-ass eyeballs out wid dis cheese grader, dig?"
shit eating army...
Lead if they cross the county line.
fonz wrote:
Take away the "free" and you re left with the shit army.
***
How true. Comment of the day?
My guess (just a guess, I don't know) is that 24 hours people could deal with that. 48 hours, ahh, no.
36 hours is a good over/under then. 36 hours until one person unfortunately is no longer among us due to this glitch? I take the under. The big question is, what state?
Mmmm! Good question!
Under 36 seems to be a good bet.
State?
Hmm, I don't know, let's just say the default state:
California!
I vote Ohio.
Glad I paid cash for this popcorn.
Lock and load, bitchez.
I vote somewhere in the south/southeast. South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi or Arkansas. Wherever there is the largest concentrations of... youths or... teens.
*wink, wink*
The dirty south.
Been to Cleveland have you?
Ohio really is a good bet, the right mix of good and bad with some whacked authoritarians to fan the flames. Almost tailor made to "break."
Wouldn't be the first time, either.
Fear and greed will play a role. The people will begin to consume themsevles with fear then greed. 36 hours could be the tipping point but 72 hours is over the top. I remember that saying 9 meals to disaster. Thats three days for most of us, right?
I feel like all that prepping just might pay off.
DoChen, Fonz!
Guys!
Just think of the unintended consequences and systematic failures down the lines. The biggest buyers of Twinkies is EBT cards. In the inner cities. No EBT cards, no Twinkies sales, shelves become overflowing stocked with Twinkies (They'll be OK eventually when its Zombie time as they've a 14 century half life) so orders for Twinkies fall, shuttering Twinkies Plants and putting thousands of Twinkies full time laborers out of jobs, only later to be replaced by part timers having to be fined for not having provided themselves with ObieDontCare because them computers ain't workin', neither.
Damn....
The Great Twinkies Collapse of 2013.
But then again, EBT's is run by JP Morgan. It'll be workin' in a few hours.
Good point about JPM Knuks. This could be Jamie's way of saying "no more fines bitchez"/
Or else.
I guess we have a quorum now... :)
Things are moving so fast, it's hard for my fingers to keep up...
If you find your self having to flee your residence in a panic, make sure you head directly for Lawsofphysics farm. Sprint up to it like a zombie screaming "I want free shit!".
He is waiting and will welcome you with open (fire)arms.
You first! :p
Then tell me the water's fine!
...24 hours before the cops start earning their overtime for a change.
If the above phrase is code for "gunning people down in the streets, kicking doors in and disarming citizens, joining in the looting, and fleeing the city in their patrol cars", then I agree with you.
Interesting how the volume of EBT users has increased while the monthly payouts have shrunk to compensate.
Surely, with $85 Billion per month of gravy slathered on the meat and potatoes of Wall Street, they can keep EBT payments up (?)
Maybe this "glitch" was assisted by J.P. Morgan Chase since they handle a lot of the cash, perhaps they are "sending a message" to .gov for hassling Jamie and Co.?
'MAXIMUM PAIN HAS NOT BEEN DEALT, SHUT DOWN THE EBT CARDS.'
I wish it would stay down. Of course Walmart and Dollar General would lose 90% of their customers. Not like that's a bad thing.
How about we create a federal welfare program funded by donations. All the progressive liberals can donate money to be paid out to the EBT class. Stop making me pay for people I don't want to support.
Of course we all know that program will probably receive less than $10 in donations per day.
Welfare only works when its forced.
Laissez faire Britain in its industrial revolution times and Victorian had virtually zero 'safety net' and yet there was so much welfare they had clearinghouses to discern the deserving poor from the deadbeats. And it was a matter of dignity, too, as people saw face to face the people they were getting the support from in their time of need, as opposed to now where it is completely impersonal as the free shit army votes for the 3rd party surrogate known as the state to steal for them, and it is not charity when it is not voluntary in the first place.
And it was wholesome charity in the old days, too, as people were lifted up spiritually on both sides, as the charitable persons had a vested interest in getting the person back on their feet and this was not just predicated on jobs, etc. but also that person comes to the Lord Jesus Christ. And people lend to a brother in need and not charge interest.
Of course there's few real Christians left (the prosperity gospel crowd doesn't count).
Neither is there a large pool of bored housewives with little to distract themselves to do the same level of charity work as in Victorian England.
What about bored horney housewives?
Just askin'
If they were bored properly they wouldn't still be horny.
LOL
Sorry Marco, I call BULLSHIT!:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100831257
If government would stop taking it at gunpoint, there would be even MORE charitable giving...
[PS: at $316 billion for 2012; that's $1,000 for every man, woman and child in America; and we know that the 50 million on EBT likely didn't give much of that...]
A lot of so-called 'charitable giving' in America is political and corporate bribery and scam shite
All those non-profit 'foundations' that work for the CIA, like the CIA's Wikipedia and the National Endowment for Democracy
Politicians typically are connected to some non-profit foundation scam, part of the way they take bribes is you donate to the 'Foundation' and that's where the pol gives jobs to his family and friends
And then you have the fake corporate foundations, fake 'environment groups' that advocate for destroying the environment for companies that fund them etc ... they are in every industry
All that shite is not 'charity' .. it is a way to bribe and fund propaganda and lies with tax-deductibility
Most real charity is off the books
Absolutely & Rottenfeller has his grubby paws in piles of them.
... so mis-educated and mal-informed ...
Perhaps you'd like to research the Rockefeller foundation & their links to MON & for that fact the VN war & agent orange.
Moron.
After the Bush tax cuts, donations to charities sunk like a rock in this country. I don't know if it is because people know others could receive government assistance, or if it was because the tax write off was no longer needed.
Lets see a link to charity donations sinking like a rock, I call BS bobby
http://philanthropy.com/article/A-Sharp-Donation-Drop-at-Big/125004/
http://money.cnn.com/2010/11/09/pf/charitable_donations_drop/index.htm
"Although 98.2% of high net worth households donated to charity in 2009, they gave substantially less than in the years before, according to a survey for Bank of America Merrill Lynch by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University."
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-09/charitable-donations-by-wealthy-in-u-s-fall-35-bank-of-america-reports.html
You think the Bush tax cuts cause that?
You can't think of anything else that occurred in 2009 that might have affected charitable contributions?
If you look at the wealth of the 1% under Bush and Obama, you'll realize those assholes are getting richer by the year. They decided to stop giving as much.
President Obama’s long-awaited budget proposal, to be released today, does not come right out and say that it intends to reduce contributions to charity—but that is almost certainly what would happen were it to become law. Here’s why. The White House has effectively doubled down on a tax change it has been pushing for four years that would limit the value of the charitable tax deduction.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/howardhusock/2013/04/10/the-obama-budget-proposal-new-tax-on-charity/
Are you Democratic operative. Your comment may be the dumbest thing I've ever read on this site and that's saying a lot. Charitable giving was affected in 2009 by the Bush tax cuts? Whaaaaat? You don't think it's because Obama and a Democratically controlled House and Senate had just been elected promising to steal money? Goodness
So all the while, the one percent continues to be enriched (they are the biggest donators to chairty and the biggest benefactors of QE) and they saw Obama and the Democratic Congress and thought my hundered of millions/billions will be stolen outright by these people? The 1% is above the law. It is you and I who are not,
Loser and non-thinker; a twofer ...
In the Victorian poorhouses, children were separated from their parents. That was the system. That was one of the main reasons that people did not want to end up in poorhouses; their children would be neglected and abused, and they could not be with them; many families starved to death together, rather than be separated. Also you should read up on the punishments used in Victorian poorhouses: they were really barbaric.
Read Mayhew; people literally starved to death in Victorian England, all the time. . Those were not good times.
Of course rural areas were better, but the poor were surging into the cities, since that was where the work was.
People were pretty hungry in England up to the 1970s!!!! Food was remarkably expensive. Cheap food has changed everything; people these days don't remember what REALLY expensive food was like. Changes in agricultural productivity have made a huge difference.
Here's a link to a decent description of how dire poverty was in Victorian England: http://www.aboutbritain.com/articles/poverty-in-victorian-times.asp. It was, you might say, "DIckensian."
I'm not saying that private charity is bad. But to use Victorian England as an example of a functioning system of private charity, is just bizarre. Rural New England is a much better historical example of people taking care of their neighbors, than Victorian England.
pre-English Manhattan is even better
@ adr:
I've never used (nor would I) use SNAP, or any other entitlement program, but I do have some empathy for the people who use these programs because they legitimately need it. There for the grace of God go I...
I'm more pissed-off about paying for "useless eaters" that fall into these categories:
1. Elected Assholes
2. Appointed Assholes
3. Corporate-welfare recipient Assholes
4. Foreign-aid begging Assholes
I may have a moral obligation to help my brother in need, but that doesn't give you the right to steal from me and do the giving for me. Your post is actually a reflection of the moral relativism out there. I don't want any redistributed wealth that is done at the point of a gun. I want to keep the fruits of my enterprise and determine what happens with it. Direct accountability.
Absolutely corporate welfare needs to be exposed, but that doesn't justify the free shit army who vote themselves the EBT, etc.
The problem is the abandonment of laissez faire capitalism and it really began with the misdiagnosis of the 1920s through the Depression. People viewed the huge bust as an 'inevitable failure of capitalism', when in reality the Fed inflated and there was unwarranted undertakings of huge capital investment for which there was not sufficient purchasing power/liberated resources of value to support. Everybody had to liquidate then, and of course it was paintful, but instead of letting that happen and learning their lesson, they used it to usher in FDR and all the interventionism that has continued to become the norm.
Corporate welfare does not equal tax breaks; WHO ultimately pays taxes anyway?
corporate welfare is subsidies from the state to say artificially raise prices, or loans from govt, or taxpayer bailouts.
On the other hand you don't have the right to deprive the poor of the natural resources necessary to lift themselves out of poverty either. Yet here we are, arable land is monopolized so they couldn't do it if they wanted to (as the Amish are slowly being forced to find out).
The state deprives the poor of what should be morally theirs ... wellfare is what they get in return. There is no easy purely christian moral answer here which doesn't infringe on either property or access to the commons, it's all one big fucking compromise.
For those who embrace social darwinism as inherently moral such as Rothbard there is an answer of course ... fuck those guys.
All of what you said is true, but the crowd you excused accounts for more votes than the other 4 groups to keep us in this quagmire.
@ g'kar:
A lot of the Foodstamp crowd does NOT need them, just like many of the people on disability don't really need it. That fact is not lost on me, at all. I'm only making the point that there are people out there, who legimately do need help due to bad circumstances, and I have some empathy for them.
"The crowd I excused accounts for more votes".....but the 4 groups I didn't excuse....have "the votes that count".
I think it's a pretty safe assumption that my 'inexcused groups' have a bigger hand in setting national policy, and have collectively done a lot more to wreck this country, than the Obamaphone Lady.
Just sayin'...
@ FreeMktFisherMN: Agree 100%!
Good points...it's a no win quagmire...
Another one my "bad choice of words' comments.
I think the point is what percentage of the folks fall into that category... the answer VERY VERY VERY few... probably less than 30%... If you take out the ghetto rats with 6 children, by 6 different fathers, its probablyless than 10%
When you start branding kids as ghetto rats then the answer should be zero ...
If you feel those children should be collateral damage to stop their parents from breeding, then why feel obligation to help anyone at all? If collateral damage is inherenty okay to help social darwinism to create utopia then trying to pick out corner cases seems a poor use of what could be productive time.
A "legitimate" need is vague notion and subject to interpretation, and can change over time and circumstance. I smoke and could develop a "legitimate" need for medical services (for which I already pay a premium) at some point in the future... as a result of a poor lifestyle choice in the past and a failure to alter my behavior before events beyond my control changed my outlook.
What is tragic with what was billed as "assistance" is that large populations who were legitimately seeking dignity and respect got conned into a making a lifestyle choice to take massa up on his offer to move into the slave quarters and feed on his table scraps - and now instead of seeking dignity and respect they glorify field niggery in what passes for "art" and cultural contribution. Most are so occupied by their addiction to consumer culture that they never observe the larger picture or realize that the deal from the devil is not offered out of concern for their best interests.
On the bright side- at least the natural selection of the selection of the condemned is carried out without regard to race, color, creed, sex or sexual orientation, even if it is biased against the poorly educated. Progress.
Once a city turns on itself and becomes a runaway engine of self-destruction, it can be difficult to impossible to switch off the process and return to normal pre-conflict life. It’s not inconceivable that the United States could produce a dozen Sarajevos or Beiruts, primarily across racial instead of religious divides.
http://westernrifleshooters.wordpress.com/2012/09/03/bracken-when-the-mu...
it is quid pro quo. The productive people out there get hosed, as the free shit army and the corporatists who use the state to guarantee profits w/taxpayer collateral/assurance of that, siphon the wealth away.
the corporatists - aren't you really firing at bogeys?
corporatists are those who use the state rather than voluntary means to conduct business. They can build moats against competitors by writing the compliance rules for the SEC and whatnot, and only they can internalize those costs and still keep running, whereas the small businesses are drowned in red tape.
I'm an anarcho-capitalist, FWIW