Pouring gold on bankers so that they can enrich themselves further:
While stealing from the poor:
June 24, 2010: Last night, as Senate leaders looked for ways to pay for increases in pending jobs-related legislation, they proposed cutting billions of dollars from SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program—formerly known as food stamp) benefits. We need your urgent help to stop this from happening.
The pending bill—the American Jobs, Closing Tax Loopholes and Preventing Outsourcing Act, (H.R. 4213), also known as the "extenders bill"—would continue extended unemployment insurance and enhanced Medicaid matching funds to the states—important support for vulnerable people.
But it is unacceptable to pay for these benefits by raiding desperately needed SNAP/food stamp dollars. The proposed cut would eliminate a much-needed future boost in SNAP/food stamp benefits that Congress included in the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
http://www.bread.org/
In the meantime, flush with gold from the Banksta Bailout of Bush:
A group of former Bank of America executives has agreed to acquire a chain of Florida banks for $175m as the first step in an ambitious plan to build a regional bank serving the southeastern US.
R. Eugene Taylor, the chief executive of North American Financial Holdings, announced the acquisition of TIB Financial Corp, a Naples, Florida-based lender with $1.7bn in assets and offices throughout the southwestern part of the state. TIB, which started off as a small bank serving the Florida Keys, expanded in recent years to other parts of the state and got into trouble with bad acquisitions.
The bank is currently operating under a memorandum of understanding from its regulators requiring it to raise $80m in fresh capital. NAFH put in more than twice the required amount because it plans to mark the bank’s balance sheet to market, and wanted to get the community bank back in the lending business again, according to Christopher Marshall, NAFH chief financial officer.
http://www.ft.com/...
Everyday one is confronted with more appalling behavior from Senate Republicans and placating Democrats who seek Republican favor by stealing food money from the very, very poor and starving to give to the merely poor on the verge of starving unemployed.
Yet Republicans are not appeased.
They can never be appeased as long as one crumb of bread goes to "a lesser person," one of the "small people."
Only yesterday Republican Senators Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Tom Coburn of Oklahoma blocked an effort by Democratic Senator Patty Murray of Washington to give aid to homeless veterans with children:
Yesterday, Senator Patty Murray requested unanimous consent on the Homeless Women Veterans and Homeless Veterans with Children Act, a bill she has sponsored that would provide aid to those who have served their country but find themselves with no place to sleep at night.
The days are long gone when I was surprised that Republicans in Washington wouldn't stand up for Vets, but this is a whole new level. Senate Republicans actually objected to and stood as a road block for providing aid to our Nation's heroes that are living on the streets, even those with children:
VIDEO
Coburn's objection (by the way, what a coward that he couldn't even do his dirty work for himself) to the funding is a farce. During all the years of deficit spending on wars in the Bush Administration that created this new generation of combat Veterans, I never heard a word from Tom Coburn regarding the effect on the deficit. Now, suddenly that's a problem.
Coburn and McConnell should just say what they mean. They care about limiting spending about as much as they care about Veterans (nill). Their real concern is continuing their obstructionist tactics in an attempt to ensure that Senate Democrats can't get any work done, for Veterans or anyone else. I never thought that the Party of No would use homeless Veterans and their children as a political football. Apparently, no matter what we owe to Veterans and their families, nothing is sacred to these disgusting Senate Republicans.
http://www.vetvoice.com/...
I cannot understand why heartless scoundrels like McConnell and Coburn keep getting re-elected.
However, I do expect that the gutless Democrats will continue to hold a small minority after the 2010 elections. Should they prevail, they should not fail to reform Senate Rules, particularly Rule XXII, in order to stop Republicans from blocking anything good and decent being enacted by the U.S. Senate.
If Senate Democrats fail to act in the interest of their nation, they should be turned out of office.
If ever there were a very real battle between Good and Evil, it happens every day in the U.S. Senate and Evil always seems to win.