Tom Toles for September 25, 2013

Another aspect of the ‘re-branding’ of the Republican message is that they are currently planning the transition from trickle-down to ‘Alms for the poor’.-Still no answer from any Republicans/Fox “news” viewers:Is Ted Cruz constitutionally eligible to be president of the United States?

Of course he is; there’s no need to be as silly as they are.

Democrats think welfare is a great program for the poor to join while Republicans think its a great program for the poor to leave.

I’ve seen people on food stamps use their EBT cards to purchase lobster and expensive steaks. Food stamps need to be regulated further to purchase only sustainable and nutritious items. This will benefit the health of poor people.

Food banks pick up some of the slack they don’t resolve the issue.

“Contrast this to food stamps, which attracts the scammers and charlatans of the country and results in misuse that far outweighs the good it does”You’re not trying to claim that the food bank isn’t being scammed, are you? If someone is dishonest enough to defraud the food stamps program, what makes you think they wouldn’t defraud a non-profit?

*rammed*Democratic Liberal

Try to move beyond one-syllable, three-letter words and equally simplistic thoughts.

Lost in delivery by the USPS…

demtards verses repubtards on and on and on,,,,

So someone may have seen someone else using food stamps to buy lobster and/or steaks? So what? I don’t care. It is still food isn’t it? Are we to become such Scrooges that we want to deny them any type of food that we think is too good for them to have?

“We have a local food bank…”How fortunate for your community. Does every community in the country have such a program? Does every community in the country have the resources to keep an adequate food bank stocked? If not, will you be the one to tell the poor families in these communities that with your plan, they will starve?

TrustedMechanic, you wound me. Am I wrong in believing that Braindead is using a picture of Albert Einstein as his avatar? I dislike calling him “braindead” as his mind seems active and insightful to me and I enjoy his posts on nearly every occasion.I also understand the reason behind his question. After years of accusing Mr. Obama of not being a citizen, BD would like to hear a conservative comment on this similar situation.However, in my trollish efforts to keep the discussion on the important issues, I want to see this issue placed in the dustbin with any further discussion of Mr. Obama’s citizenship and some other things I could mention.Yesterday’s hypocrite, whatever side from which he might come can choose to be a person capable of dialectic conversation who, like a recovering alcoholic, sets aside the behaviors of yesterday in order to work on a better today. Braindead’s only hypocrisy is in his name itself. The man(?) is obviously a thinker.I’m hurt, Mechanic. Really. Now I need a hug. ; )Take care neighbor. Respectfully,with a side of silliness,C.

krisjackson01: Read the Constitution. It is a moot point now, but it does contain a loophole for those born under British rule, but residing in what became the US. Includes all presidents up to Jackson.

My dear friend, TrustedMechanic, I was not the least hurt or upset. This is one of the reasons I try to resist using humor since the context of my content is often confused. I figured you missed the connection to the avatar and I was trying to be funny. While I sometimes have an issue with the way you deliver a message, I am nearly always in agreement with the core message. I apologize for not being more clear that I was being ‘funny’. I thought my sign off “with a side of silliness” would have alerted you.So, as an apology and a thank you for being concerned enough to care…. { }You are good people TTM, among many good people, and I appreciate you. Your friend in GC,C.sanesaint@hotmail.com

‘“Mr. Einstien?” Mr. Downs, this is uncharacteristic of you, to disparage member asking a legitimate question.’-Mr. Downs has already responded in his typical respectful way. I’m a little late in joining this conversation, but I just wanted to confirm that I’m sure that Mr. Downs is being complimentary toward me and that I am in NO way offended. -I have a little fun with my handle and avatar and RT is certainly entitled to a part of this fun as well.-Of course, you notice that none of the Birthers are willing to comment. NOT that they are hypocrites or anything like that.

“Contrast this to food stamps, which attracts the scammers and charlatans of the country and results in misuse that far outweighs the good it does, and you can clearly see the difference between Republicans and Democrats.”-And, it’s in stark contrast to farm price support programs which benefit Archer Daniels Midland and the other family farms. We all know that there is NO scamming, abuse, or fraud with the farm price support programs. I mean, it’s perfectly natural for the Federal govt to give money to these family farms for not growing crops.-And, although Democrats were skeptical, Republicans/Fox “news” viewers KNOW that the U.S. received full value from the $8 billion no bid contract to Halliburton in support of the Iraq invasion, despite all those carping reports of overcharges and undelivered goods and services.

“Since his Mom is a Natural Born Citizen, then Cruz is indeed a Natural Born USA Citizen no matter where he was born”On what authority do you derive this definition of “natural born”, Tigger? It’s interesting that if born on foreign soil, many legal scholars contend that “natural born” status is confirmed if the “parents” (plural) are US citizens. I have yet to find a source that confers this status if only a single parent is a US citizen.

Thanks, SkepticCal. Does that act, or the superceding Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, have anything to do with “natural born”?

If US declared war somewhere and sent 10 million unemployed into combat and they all got killed, that would solve the fuss over Food Stamps going forever to single, able-bodied men. Then Obama and Congress would not be criticized for high unemployment numbers. The same approach worked for Roosevelt.

“Anyone who genuinely supports cutting food stamps is not an intellectual or an ideologue – they’re a bully.”- Jason, 35-Yr-Old White Male Combat Veteran[]http://www.upworthy.com/i-was-shocked-to-hear-about-one-guy-who-is-on-food-stamps-5

Fuzzy Thinker (I): Unemployment had been cut in half by 1936, so the programs were cut back. Unemployment started to rise in 1937, so they were re-introduced. By the time WW-II started (in September 1939, not when your Gabbler-censored textbooks say), the economy was growing on its own again.

Let’s cut all food stamps. That gives two big benefits that Republicans will love: It will cut out the tiny percentage of cases that involve fraud, and will cause millions of poor people to starve. Win-win!

Having worked in the system for over 20 years, I saw first-hand the abuses by so-called “poor” Americans. Every family I’ve ever encountered who believes themselves to be so poor always had enough money to buy cigarettes for him, her and the teenaged children, to buy soda and beer by the case, and to own and feed large dogs. I volunteer at the local food kitchen which was planned to feed the poor and the homeless. . . the people who show up, claiming they’re poor, own better shoes and clothing than I do. It’s not that “Republicans” want to starve the poor; it’s that they want to stop abuses of the system.

At least with the ACA the insurance companies are required to spend at least 80% of premiums on health care, rather than executive salaries and bonuses.

I think one can only expect the cost of health care insurance to drop to that of car insurance if the costs of health care equal the costs of auto accidents/theft/etc. I have no idea what those amounts are…do you?As far as how well the insurance companies will do with the ACA, well, they were given a lot of perks and benefits when the original ACA was gutted in order to appease the Republicans. Perhaps if the original single-payer plan had been enacted instead of being scrapped, costs would be lower.

“If the Democrats had a back-bone…”Couldn’t agree more. What’s worse, after gutting the ACA they still got zero Republicans to vote for it, yet they didn’t seem to learn from it.