The Big Picture

With Republicans bemoaning the "necessity" of a government shutdown (while secretly celebrating it behind closed doors), proposing caps on food assistance which would target impoverished children, and threatening to defund public broadcasting (which, by the way, receives less in subsidies than Liberty University, a private Christian college founded by apartheid lover Jerry Falwell), it's easy to get confused by the political and economic mire that has become our budget crisis.

US Government:  Your taxpayer dollars should go to an institution that teaches students to hate gay people and to destroy a woman's right to choose.  Not NPR, tho!

Over the past two days, I've had to resolve a lot of people's questions and misunderstandings over the current crisis on Facebook.  Why, some of them ask, are we in trouble when we can just cut welfare (those lazy-ass couch monkeys!)?  And isn't government shutdown a necessary evil? 

It's easy, for instance, to blame our budget crisis on people who collect federal and state assistance through social programs.  "Government handouts" can seem to be a luxury when we are operating at a tremendous deficit.  But are they? 

Hardly.  Eating is not really what I would call a luxury, and thousands of families who rely on food assistance would suffer were proposed caps to go into effect.  And while I have no doubt that there are some who abuse the system, this is true of ANY social program, private or public.  There will always be a minority of people who take advantage of charity and government help, but this doesn't mean that we should defund these programs simply because there is an outspoken political group insisting that everyone who collects assistance is lazy.

Wouldn't there be nice if there were another solution?

There is, and it's simple!  Stop allowing certain groups of people avoid paying their taxes. 

Gasp!  Who would do such a thing?  Corporate America, that's who.  Last year Bank of America reported boom profits but, due to tax loopholes, didn't pay one single red cent in taxes.  That's right.  YOU paid more in taxes than one of the largest and successful financial institutions in our country.  Time and time again our much needed social programs have had to step up to the chopping block while corporations like this have been able to get by without paying their fair share. 

Bank of America isn't alone.  There are billions of dollars in unpaid taxes waiting to be collected if leadership in Washington stopped eying the food on your dinner table and started eying the bonuses collected by Wall Street CEOs.  Why would is our leadership protecting CEO salaries while looking to take away your food benefits?

I'm sure it has nothing to do with the huge campaign contributions made to political candidates from these companies.  Of course not.

It's not just food assistance or NPR that is on the chopping block-- this government shutdown?  A report from the Air Force Times indicates that non-essential military personnel will miss out on salaries necessary to pay their monthly bills-- believe me!  I was a non-commissioned officer in the Army and was living paycheck to paycheck-- while members of Congress will still collect their paychecks as scheduled. 

This guy is clearly leeching off the government and we should cut one of his paychecks in half in order to cover the asses of the true heroes-- Wall Street CEOs!

Why are our nation's heroes being asked to forgo their much needed pay when not a dime is being asked from the ultra-wealthy?

The projected savings of a government shutdown amounts to 0.02% of the budget.  However, for the projected length of the shutdown, service personnel will be missing out on an entire week-- 50% of one paycheck-- in order to scrape together what amounts to spare change.  A drop in the bucket for the budget, but a crippling blow to our military personnel.

In essence:  Don't be fooled.  The shutdown is not a necessary evil, nor is asking Americans to tighten their belts when we should be living in a time of plenty.  We are seeing the effects of government corruption at the hands of the corporate dollar, and those corrupting individuals are only too happy to lie to you and tell you that the real problem is slutty black people who use welfare as an excuse to rut like rabbits (I wish I was making this up). 

Bryan Fischer's latest gem:  Feeding impoverished families only teaches black women that they should spread their legs to everyone who walks by!!!  Er, what?

Some may have you think that the budget crisis is the blame of many different factors-- NPR is to blame!  Welfare is to blame!  Black slutty women are to blame!-- but they don't want you to see the big picture.

The problem is easy, and so is the solution:  Some people aren't being asked to pay their fair share.  Maybe it's time we did some asking?