Republican War on the Unemployed, Poor and Education

When doing the research for this article, totally forgot about the 'chastity training' that wasted $250M of our tax dollars in the Welfare Reform Bill signed by Clinton.  If you count up all the waste on programs that were useless over the years including the War on Drugs, the deficit might be cut to zero.  Feel good titles don't make programs good programs.  

One program that I thought was outstanding was 'Reading is Fundamental (RIF)' which focused on teaching children to read in the public schools plus encouraging parents to read to their kids.  Today that is a program you hear nothing about.  It was replaced by the bi-partisan "No Child Left Behind" which is still being attacked by Republican Conservatives in the States.  It needed some tweaks but it was a good idea that Senator Ted Kennedy fully supported along with President Bush.

My grandchildren are read to by my kids all the time -- it shows up in how well they are doing in school. My son brings a book home every time he travels and has been doing it since his son was very young. RIF was worth every nickel because reading is the basis for all that we do throughout life from reading a newspaper or book to reading recipe's to reading how to do something you have never done around your home and the list is endless.  No child should be left behind when it comes to reading because it is something that stays with them throughout their whole life.  That also means they need start to the day with breakfast to be able to do their best and be able to concentrate.  If you are hungry, concentration is hard.

Worked many book fairs when my kids were in school, bought a lot of books, and now my daughter is doing the same with my two granddaughters.  Kids love going to book fairs at their school so they can pick out a book, take it home, show their parents, and have it read to them or the child read the book to their parents.  At one school my children attended, we had a fund so every child in the school could buy a book at the book fair.  Remember one little girl in first grade who was in a foster home with her siblings leaving the book fair clutching her book.  Later that morning when I worked with her on her reading, we read the book, and she gave me a hug to thank me as I helped her pick it out and paid for her book.  All these years later it still touches my heart and wonder how I was ever in the same party with these bunch of heartless Republicans today because I believe in public education and helping those that need the help the most.

You want to end the cycle of poverty?  Give these young kids a good education.  Instead many red states like mine are cutting back on education to fund tax cuts for the wealthy.  In our case, the Court ruled the tax cut was against the Constitution so now Oklahoma Republicans want to change the way judges are chosen.

Looking back at 1996 and the War on Poverty signed into law by Clinton and pushed by the GOP, it was actually a culmination of the conservative attacks against the poor starting with Barry Goldwater's run for President.  President Bush tried to use the words 'compassionate' conservative to describe himself because unlike a lot of conservatives he believed in helping the poor and those less fortunate. Shame he had Dick Cheney as his VP.   This country went from the War on Poverty of the 60's started by LBJ to end poverty to undermining of the War on Poverty 50 years later by the GOP by cutting food stamps, unemployment benefits, and welfare payments treating the poor like second class citizens.

One thing that bothered me out of the Agriculture Committee in the House in 2013 chaired by Frank Lucas was the drastic cut to food stamps while keeping most of the subsidies to the big farmers some of who are in Congress.  Lucas subsidies are small compared to other members some who get over $1M. Committee chairman Lucas said that the bill’s proposed cuts to SNAP “won’t take a calorie off the plate of anyone who needs help.”  Something is wrong with this picture when a Chairman who receives subsidies says cuts to SNAP food program for the poor won't hurt them.  My comeback is that all farm subsidies should be discontinued for any farmer making over $75,000 a year.  The very idea that the US Taxpayer pays for subsidies to some of the big corporate farms and members of Congress makes me furious.

To this day, I never figured out President Clinton's going along with the GOP led by Speaker Gingrich to undermine the safety net for the poor.  Not everyone on food stamps or assistance is a 'Welfare Queen' as declared by Ronald Reagan.  One big problem at the state level more then any welfare fraud has been the inept Department of Human Services in some states like Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Florida for starters.

Oklahoma DHS was so bad it had to pay $6M to a New York advocacy group who exposed how bad they were so would expect that now they are fixing the problems.  WRONG!  In this article from The Oklahoman, it details the first report of the independent group which shows DHS needs help to improve child welfare practices which they were told to fix by the Legislature.  Guess they couldn't handle the fixes:

THREE out-of-state experts who are monitoring the state's child welfare reform efforts rapped the Department of Human Services pretty good in their first progress report Wednesday. The report also included this message for the Legislature and the general public: Their help is also needed.

Think Progress has the history of the War on Poverty from LBJ to the current time which spans 50 years.  Still trying to figure out why Republican Conservatives were and are so against those less fortunate and what is their objection to giving them a helping hand.  Makes no sense.  But it made no sense to me that in 1996, President Clinton gave into Speaker Gingrich and Republicans:

In 1996, President Clinton signed the law that did away with guaranteed income assistance for poor families with children and replaced it with Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). The program provided states with federal block grants to support income assistance and other services for low-income families with children and included a “work first” requirement. 

The GOP-backed measure was based on the principle that “Having children out of wedlock is wrong — not simply economically unwise for the individuals involved or a financial burden on society, but morally wrong.” Even Clinton’s Department of Health and Human Services Secretary, Donna E. Shalala, fully embraced the argument in a comment that stigmatized single mothers, telling Newsweek, “I don’t like to put this in moral terms, but I do believe that having children out of wedlock is just wrong,” In fact, the original bill “appropriated $250 million over five years for ‘chastity training‘ for poor single mothers.”

In the lead-up to today's attacks on the safety net, we had former MA Governor Romney running for President when he talked about The 47 percent at a fundraiser for wealthy donors in FL.

The height of the GOP opposition came during Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign, when the candidate argued that 47 percent of Americans are “dependent upon government.” Speaking to donors in the days following the election, the former Massachusetts governor echoed the arguments of the 1960s, speculating that Obama won because he was “very generous” to his base. “The President’s campaign,” he said, “focused on giving targeted groups a big gift—so he made a big effort on small things. Those small things, by the way, add up to trillions of dollars.” 

Romney’s running mate, House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI), authored budgets that would make extreme cuts in the social safety net laid down by Johnson’s War on Poverty, and disproportionately impact women and people of color. For instance, under Ryan’s leadership, the GOP budget would repeal the Affordable Care Act, a law that provides health care security for millions of working poor Americans by expanding Medicaid for individuals and families earning above 138 percent of the federal poverty line, push more than 12 million Americans out of the food stamps program, and secure steep reductions for child care, Head Start, job training, Pell Grants, housing, energy assistance, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and TANF. The majority of those who rely on these programs are the groups who were the targets of attacks on the War on Poverty over the last half-century.

Just when I thought the Republican Party couldn't get any dumber after the 2012 Presidential campaign when it comes to the unemployed, I have been proven wrong once again with the latest out from House Majority Leader Eric Cantor on how Republicans need to spin their lack of support for the unemployment bill.  Sitting here shaking my head realizing the GOP can be that dumb!

House GOP Issues Unemployment Insurance Talking PointsBy Matt FullerPosted at 5:52 p.m. on Jan. 7 

House Republican leadership sent out four talking points Tuesday for GOP members who may be worried that Democrats have some traction on the unemployment insurance issue. 

Here is the full memo: 

KEY POINTS:  EMERGENCY UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE EXTENSION

• For every American out of work, it’s a personal crisis for them and their family. That’s why House Republicans remain focused on creating jobs and growing the economy.

• Dozens of House-passed jobs bills remain sitting in the Democratic-run Senate awaiting action, including the SKILLS Act which helps long-term unemployed get training often needed to re-enter the workforce.

• Washington has lost its priorities if it’s more focused on making unemployment easier to tolerate than it is getting people back to work and restoring independence all together.

• If Democrats can produce a plan that is fiscally responsible as well as does something to actually create jobs, the House will give it proper consideration. Until then, our focus will remain where it belongs: on creating jobs and putting Americans back to work.

The memo also provided a link to the website of Speaker John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, where members can read “more details about House-passed jobs bills awaiting action in the Democratic-run Senate.” 

Anyone with a brain knows that any jobs bills that passed the House left a lot to be desired like everything but leave it to the GOP to spin a narrative devoid of facts.  Voters need to realize that this worthless GOP House cares more about making the President look bad then getting anything done.

Suggested on Twitter today:

Think it is time Congress got paid by the hour instead of a flat rate.  US Treas could save money w/so few days GOP House works!  

Big question is why are they paid full time for part-time work?  The GOP House plans to work less days this year then last year when they were the least productive House in history.  Now they are out to break that record.

If you are in a Republican Congressional District, please help get out the vote to oust some of these worthless Congressman taking our tax dollars and doing little!

Bush Administration Responsible for No Oversight of West, Texas, or Other Fertilizer/Chemical Storage Facilities by EPA

“Perry reworked the language and helped to get it added to the spending bill in a conference committee. Under the new amendment, the DHS would have nominal authority to regulate the chemical industry but also have its hands tied where required.”

What Phillip Perry, VP Cheney's son-in-law, did was to add language the chemical industry wanted to an appropriations bill rider that moved the task of regulating and oversight of chemical plants from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Another day, another group that has bought and paid for Republican members of Congress.  This time it is the chemical industry which is only being highlighted after the West, TX, fertilizer plant blew up last week while storing large amounts chemicals that should have set off red flags. EPA is no longer in charge of regulating these plants while the Texas Department of Health who had the authority seems pretty worthless as they took the owner's word with no inspections.

Seems chemical manufacturer's thought giving DHS authority for regulation and oversight with little money provided by Congress would allow them to operate as they chose without no regard to safety.  As we saw in West, Texas, the lack of oversight blew up in their face with a plant storing chemicals that were way over the limit allowed in unsafe storage units with no markings so fire department officials didn't know what was in the storage tanks.  Because of not knowing what was stored, the volunteer fire department used water instead of foam which is used to fight chemical fires.  The owner of the facility has already been sued.

This picture is from the site of the West, Texas fertilizer storage facility the night of the explosion where 10 of the 13 killed were volunteer fire fighters, one was a paramedic, and one was from Dallas search and rescue -- all first responders who died because of lack of oversight and inspections of this plant:

With Chris Hayes connecting the dots on MSNBC with this video, it shows what happened which eventually led to the West, Texas, fertilizer plant exploding.

Summary of the Chris Hayes video:

Let’s recap: The Bush administration’s own cabinet secretaries come up with a plan to regulate these chemical plants. It’s stymied by Phil Perry once. The Bush administration sides with the chemical industry when it’s brought before Congress. And then, basically in a backroom maneuver, Perry does the chemical industry’s bidding by moving the oversight of this from the EPA, which the chemical industry hates, to DHS, which the chemical industry thinks they can more easily manipulate. 

Now, fast-forward six years. The West Fertilizer company is storing more than 13-hundred times the amount of ammonium nitrate that would normally trigger safety oversight by DHS. And it does appear now, that not only did DHS literally have no idea that the West Fertilizer company was storing ammonium nitrate. But according to Congressman Bennie Thompson, a Democrat from Mississippi, DHS did not even know the plant existed until it blew up.

Everyone in America should watch this video which connects the dots which all lead back to the Bush Administration, Phillip Perry, and the chemical industry:

Bush and the West explosion: The untold story of deregulating chemical plants
Collier Meyerson, @youngcollier11:26 PM on 04/25/2013

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Seems the Bush Administration was in the hip pocket of chemical manufactures starting with Vice President Cheney's son-in-law, Phillip Perry, who is responsible for non-regulation of chemical plants by the EPA with his various positions in the Administration. Will someone please tell me why family of the President or Vice President is allowed to even work in the Administration. Cheney's daughter, Liz, also went to work for the State Department during the Bush years. You want to look at the main problem of the Bush Administration - look no further then the former head of Halliburton, Dick Cheney. His son-in-law along with the chemical industry and their bought and paid for puppets in Congress helped contribute to the plant in West, Texas, blowing up.  

Then there is the K-factor involved when it comes to fertilizer and chemical plants:

Koch Fertilizer, LLC

Koch Fertilizer, LLC, which is one of the world’s largest makers of nitrogen fertilizers. Koch Fertilizer owns or has interests in fertilizer plants the United States, Canada, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, and Italy, among others. Koch Fertilizer was formed in 1988 when the Koch companies purchased the Gulf Central Pipeline and ammonia terminals connected to the pipeline. The next year, the Koch Nitrogen Company was formed in order to market ammonia. The next few years saw purchases of various ammonia facilities in Louisiana, Canada, and elsewhere, and ammonia sales agreements with firms in Australia, the U.K., and other countries. The year 2010 saw the founding of Koch Methanol, LLC, and Koch Agronomic Services, LLC. In October 2010, a plant in Venezuela was nationalized by the government. In 2011, the firm acquired the British fertilizer firm J&H Bunn Limited.

Do you think that the Koch Bros were a major player in getting Phillip Perry to insert language into a bill to move control of chemical plants from the EPA to DHS so they would have less oversight, regulation, and scrutiny?  I certainly do and would suggest they probably rallied the rest and still are too prevent any oversight and regulation to another one of their industries. IMO, the Koch Bros with their aim to destroy all oversight and regulation by the Federal Government contributed to the West, Texas, disaster along with their puppets in Congress.  Are the Koch Bros taking their quest for lack of oversight and regulation on what they own worldwide as they buy up chemical and fertilizer plants around the world?

Given that the Bush-backed bill moving oversight of big places storing fertilizer from EPA to DHS is law of the land, and Republicans in Congress aren’t going to change it, the administration has been considering recently granting the EPA the original authority that Christine Todd Whitman wanted. The chemical industry lobby hates this. So in February, 10 Republicans and one Democrat teamed-up with a bunch of chemical industry groups to fight this tooth and nail. Here’s a letter from the groups to members of Congress. It reads in part:

“We have concerns about EPA’s arbitrary application of the General Duty Clause as well as the potential for future expansion of the General Duty Clause to regulate the security of chemical facilities.”

President Obama who as a Senator in 2006 sponsored a bill to make chemical plants safer.  Sounds like it was a reasonable bill, but the Republicans in the Senate killed the bill on behalf of the chemical industry.  After all, the GOP office holders need their wealthy donors to keep filling up their campaign coffers.  If something blows up in their face due to their obstructionism on oversight and regulation of chemical plants, no worry as it is only collateral damage is the way they act today.

Following is an excerpt of what Chris Hayes, MSNBC, is saying in the video above about what happened during the Bush Administration to kill oversight of chemical plants by the EPA. No wonder Christie Todd Whitman who headed EPA along with Tom Ridge who was the first head of Homeland Security did not come back for 2nd terms. 

We pieced together this story. Here’s what happened: in the wake of 9/11, there was tremendous concern about the vulnerability of chemical plants, including plants that stored fertilizer. The EPA knew that these chemical plants posed a legitimate risk to the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. The vulnerability of chemical plants made headlines across the country.

Two Bush administration officials, Christine Todd Whitman, who was head of the Environmental Protection Agency at the time and Tom Ridge, who was head of Secretary of Homeland Security, came up with a plan to deal with the vulnerability. Whitman believed that the EPA was already empowered to expand her agency’s oversight of chemical plants under a section of the Clean Air Act and she and Ridge worked out a deal to do so. 

That’s until the son-in-law of former Vice President Dick Cheney walked into the room, a guy by the name Phillip Perry, who was at the time the general counsel of the White House Office of Management and Budget. And he made it clear that the Bush administration was not going to support granting regulatory authority over chemical security to the EPA. According to reports, Perry claimed that their proposal was tantamount to overreach, and that they would need Congress to specifically authorize it. 

So, Christine Todd Whitman and Tom Ridge figured that the obvious thing to do was to go up to the Hill, and ask Congress for the authority necessary. But as Whitman writes in her book, “It’s My Party Too: The Battle for the Heart of the GOP and the Future of America”:

“Although both Tom and I agreed such legislation was necessary, strong congressional opposition–led by some Republicans on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee–to giving EPA even the modest additional statutory authority made it difficult to secure administration support for a meaningful bill.”

Basically, the Bush administration from above, pulled support for that bill because the chemical industry doesn’t want to be regulated by the EPA. Fast forward a few years, to 2007, and Phil Perry–again, Dick Cheney’s son-in-law–is now over at the Department of Homeland Security as the department’s general counsel. And what he manages to do, in an uncontroversial bill, in an appropriations rider, is slip in industry-friendly language into the bill that moves the task of regulating chemical plants from the Environmental Protection Agency to the Department of Homeland Security. But DHS is given none of the tools it would need to actually do that. 

Excerpt:  Read More at MSNBC 

Bottom line is that we can add another industry, chemical and fertilizer manufacturers along with the storage facility owners to list of people/groups who have bought and paid for Republicans in Congress.  Thanks to the Citizens United ruling, it has gotten much worse to the stage the Republicans in Congress work for the NRA and other groups and could care less about the rest of us.

Since the Republicans in Congress for the most part don't care about us then it is time to show them the unemployment line in November 2014 and then cut unemployment benefits for members of Congress to $1 a day!