You know the emails I'm talking about, the ones that claim the President is everything from a Maoist Mau Mau to a Commie Abortionist or those that breathlessly expose some gasp horrible Democratic politician's wrong doing like the person third in line to the Presidency actually having military air transport. But the ones that really make me angry are those in support of the Plutocracy using the hateful divide and conquer strategy that try to direct people's anger instead of at the Plutocracy but at the most helpless in our society, the poor.
Join me below the Squiggly Thingy
I received this email today from one of my very best clients, a woman, an immigrant who through her own very hard work built a successful business in this country. She doesn't have a hateful bone in her body but now that she's retired she has more time to spend on the computer and I notice all of a sudden I am getting the emails she's being influenced by, no doubt sent along to her by friends in the local business community which is a very Republican group of people. I handle about two dozen businesses in my business and among them I can only think of a couple that are owned by democrats like myself.
With that explanation, let's move on to the Email itself in all its hateful, lying glory.
Found in the parking lot of a grocery store, Menominee, Michigan
The 1 in 7 Americans currently on food stamps certainly appreciate the opportunity to dine on lobster and porterhouse steak at YOUR EXPENSE. What's for dinner at your house tonight?
I’m having steamed sticky rice and fried eggs at my house!!!! Total costs $2.00 because my income has paid for lobsters and porterhouse steaks for those food stamp receipients. (sic)
After I picked up my jaw from the floor, I couldn't resist replying so here it is;
Just so you know, there are political forces dedicated to dividing us from each other instead of focusing our attention on the real thieves in this country and they will spread lots of lies and distortions to do hat (Wall Street bailouts over $8 trillion but no one knows for sure but the executives are reaping multi billion dollar bonuses on the taxpayers bailout $$, That’ll buy a lot of steak and lobster). It is very easy to photo shop such a receipt and I doubt many stores actually show “Food Stamps” as a method of payment. The stores want those folk’s business and don’t want to embarrass them by blaring out in any fashion they’re getting assistance and they’re not stamps anyway, they’re like a credit card and have been for years. It is not easy getting assistance of any kind in this country despite what people think and it’s really not very generous even though we’ve all paid taxes for these services which entitle us to them to should we ever need them. Just to show you how little people get in food stamp money here’s a calculation from the Government website- this is the maximum MONTHLY food stamp amount for a family of 3 people.
EXAMPLE 1
A non-categorically eligible recipient household, group size of 3, has monthly net income of $1,465. The maximum net income for a group size of 3 is $1,591, so the household passes the net income test. The maximum allotment for a group size of 3 is $526. The household’s Food Stamp benefit allotment is determined as follows.
$ 526 Maximum allotment for a group size of 3
-440 30% of net income ($439.50 rounded up to $440)
$ 86 Rounded up to the next even dollar if less than $14:
$ 86 Household’s monthly Food Stamp allotment
OK, the most any group of three people can get is a huge budget busting EIGHTY SIX DOLLARS A MONTH. WOW! I think I’ll get on food stamps and go get me some steak and lobster!!!!!! Once!
In other words some liars with an agenda that attacks the most unfortunate among us sends out this email and people who are over taxed and GET LITTLE for their taxes are mad about that. That’s because our taxes go to support a huge War Machine we don’t need but the very rich who own “defense” companies do and to bail out Wall Street Banksters who rip off the whole world’s economy. And that angers me that our taxes don’t go to feed the hungry or to nurse the sick or to educate the smart but poor but to fill to the bloated brim the pockets of the very wealthy who then tell us our taxes buy steak and lobster for the poor. Right. They also have a bridge they’d like to sell you. There’s a lot of things wrong with this country, but over generousness towards the poor isn’t one of them.
Thanks for reading.
Dave
PS- and even if this receipt was real? Well, that just means that person blew their family’s entire monthly allotment for food. They’re free to do that too of they want to go hungry the other 29 days.
I don't know about you folks but I've had it with this divide and conquer bullshit. Sure we're overtaxed, we're overtaxed to support the interests of the wealthiest citizens and their war machine. We pay through the nose and get nothing for it and people are sick of it. The problem is the Plutocrats and their Puke lapdogs and their lying media have us at each others throats to distract us from who the real enemy is and we here at DKos know, It's time we spread the word who the enemy is. It's not the wingnuts who've been brainwashed, it's not the rank and file Republican, it's just not. It's the Plutocracy that hide behind their lies and it's time we stopped it. It's time we stopped it in its tracks. It's time.
It just is.