If girlie-men economics means that it is flexible and not musclebound, I’m all for it. Bush’s economic policy on the other hand is on steroids, which is another way of saying it will collapse from its dead weight of debt. … I wonder if Schwarzenegger in front of Marie Shriver has the guts to call the all the male Kennedys girlie-men. … Afghanistan is ostensibly doing well — tell that to the charitable organization Médecins Sans Frontières that withdrew from there because the new government failed to investigate and prosecute the murders of five of their selfless, noble doctors. … Unless you’re one of them, eight million unemployed is not a disastrous problem; it is the many millions more who are underemployed. … Currently we are stone deaf to FDR’s “freedom from want” and throw stones at the “lazy bastards” who want the government to send them checks each month. … How many stone throwers know that for a family of four to be eligible for Earned Income Tax Credit must be substantially below the poverty level of $18,850. … Meritocractic view is that job training will solve the problem of poverty, but that rules out millions who must do the nasty menial tasks for the rest of us, which entails turning our back to border crossings. … Those against raising the minimum wage unwittingly acknowledge the perpetuity of welfare. … The old AFDC under federal control was replaced with TANF [Temporary Assistance to Needy Families] as a state block grant: the result has been state governments raiding these funds for other purposes — so much for the “end of welfare as we know it.” … Is it the mentality of reality shows and the lottery that makes the middle class side with the rich, rather than the poor? I guess it’s because there’s no glamor in being poor. …
Copyright © 2004 Richard R. Kennedy All rights reserved. Revised: September 16, 2004.
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