700,000 people could lose food stamps under Trump administration's new SNAP rules

[KeeperOfMemories]

They say we don't have enough money to provide food stamps for the poor. They say we don't have enough money to improve public schools and universities. They say we don't have enough money to provide universal health insurance. They say we don't have enough money to update our outdated civil infrastructure. They say we don't have enough money to provide free tuition to public universities. They say we don't have enough money for Medicare. They say we don't have enough money for Social Security.

But you'll note something.

They always have enough money to allow corporations to pay NOTHING in taxes. They also have enough money to give these corporations billions and billions and billions in subsidies. They always have money for a new bomber. They always have enough money for trillion dollar wars.

Makes you wonder... what or who are we actually defending???

That's how I feel too. I used to be all up in arms about people potentially abusing the welfare system, but it's minor compared to wealthy people being given subsidies--people who have the means to provide their way, but choose not to.

I'm more bothered about the idea of wealthy people getting a private lounge at the airport on taxpayers dollars than supporting people who can't work.

It's all about priorities, and our infrastructure and social programs aren't the priority.

 

[KeeperOfMemories]

Building more housing is something I could get behind. It would provide even more good paying jobs to that community and also give people experience in trade skills. I'm not sure about how much room they have to build in that area, so I can't comment on that. The problem with using the subsidy money to build is that there is no actual money, it was just tax breaks. Amazon was supposed to invest 2.5 billion into the local economy, so maybe if the local government could be compelled to invest that in new development rather than spending it on whatever else they spend it on, they could create a situation where most everyone benefits and few people are pushed out of the community.

Space is an issue. When you run out of land, the only thing you can do is build up. Our government has been slow to respond to this, and they could do things like loosen zoning requirements. That, or create incentives to not have jobs centered in one area.

The thing about companies being supposed to invest in the local economy is that there is nothing holding them to actually doing so. We gave subsidies to Boeing to keep jobs in Washington state, but they still ended going out.

A tax break is essentially a subsidy, unless its applied across the board. Otherwise, it is a special favor.

 

[tampasteve]

MOD HAT ON

This thread has had a heavy cleaning. Keep it civil, keep it non-personal, and keep it on topic.

MOD HAT OFF​