tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5397103.post441081815763559707..comments2024-01-02T18:05:23.666-06:00Comments on Streak's Blog: Do we need a middle class?Streakhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01443433745929880701noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5397103.post-3461437655573950982011-03-02T15:43:08.505-06:002011-03-02T15:43:08.505-06:00Nope, not a hijack. And further evidence of what ...Nope, not a hijack. And further evidence of what we are talking about. <br /><br />As I have said, I think there are one hell of a lot of people who call themselves Christians who are just bluffing. If Medicaid and Medicare disappeared tomorrow, they wouldn't give any more than they do now, and the problem would overwhelm the private agencies. Completely. <br /><br />The other part of conservative Christianity, I think, simply doesn't understand what you just so cogently explained--that these religious organizations can combine their tithes and offerings with tax money and other contributions to actually help people. Since they don't recognize what federal and state money do for them, they discount it.Streakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01443433745929880701noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5397103.post-46824618718388109862011-03-02T12:14:45.872-06:002011-03-02T12:14:45.872-06:00The "War on Poverty" has been going on a...<i>The "War on Poverty" has been going on a long time, and yet victory is no where in sight.</i><br /><br />Same can confidently and absolutely be said about the War On Drugs. And that's a war responsible, in part, to the fact that 1 of every 100 Americans is incarcerated now, and that state corrections budgets consumer 25%+ of available state general funds.<br /><br />Maybe we can look there?<br /><br />I mean, if conservative stalwarts like Newt Gingrich and Pat Nolan <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/06/AR2011010606006.html" rel="nofollow">write op-eds</a> about the too-high cost of corrections, and even go as far as launching their own <a href="http://www.rightoncrime.com/" rel="nofollow">website and campaign</a> to address that spending, then maybe instead of taking whacks at teachers, who perform a vital role in EMPTYING our prisons...we can take a whack at the ridiculous number of felonies, the costly War On Drugs, and the model of corrections-as-business. <br /><br />All while rescuing some middle class jobs, and getting offenders out who can turn around and start <i>making</i> money as a middle-class slob rather than eating it to the tune of $30,000 a year for being behind bars for writing bad fucking checks or sneaking a dime bag to a concert.<br /><br />To your questions, Streak:<br /><br />In Grand Rapids, MI, we have the lovely and massively successful <a href="http://www.hopenetwork.org/" rel="nofollow">Hope Network</a>. It describes itself as:<br /><br /><i>"Hope Network is a non-profit Christian organization founded in 1963 to empower people with disabilities or disadvantages to achieve their highest level of independence. <br /><br />We provide a continuum of specialized care for those with brain and spinal cord injuries, mental illness, developmental disabilities, substance use disorders, and other disadvantages. Our support services include transportation, subsidized housing, and workforce development that utilizes our own manufacturing facilities for on-the-job training. <br /><br />Hope Network cares for the whole person addressing the social, mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual needs.<br /><br />With corporate offices in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Hope Network provides services in 180 plus locations, by 2,300 staff, to people in more than 75 counties. Hope Network serves more than 18,000 people throughout Michigan."</i><br /><br />There is a religious community standing up, as you suggest.<br /><br />BUT....<br /><br />guess who gets fed money to HELP stretch their dollar? Guess who gets state money for the same reason? Guess who partners with state=funded state agencies to stretch state dollars further?<br /><br />If, Lancaster, you guess "Hope Network," you'd be right!<br /><br />Guess whose programs would shrink and diminish by taking fed and state money out of the picture?<br /><br />Same answer.<br /><br />My complete hijack of this post (sorry Streak) is to say: conservative attempts to take whacks as disfavored constituencies drives up our controllable-but-undesirable costs (like CORRECTIONS) while putting greater strain on great community groups like Hope Network, who are challenged to extend programs even further than their massive and generous donor base allows via donations. <br /><br />Maybe instead of fixes that are politically expedient, maybe we look at institutional spending issues. And that's NOT cutting teachers and all manner of state workers. That's looking at why 1/4 of all available funds are tied up locking poeple up, by just one example.Noahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14345059376742159966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5397103.post-5114311556785486212011-03-02T08:45:20.956-06:002011-03-02T08:45:20.956-06:00Well, thanks for not actually addressing my questi...Well, thanks for not actually addressing my questions. Sweet Jesus, is this blog just a troll magnet?Streakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01443433745929880701noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5397103.post-47507036167112243192011-03-02T08:43:05.771-06:002011-03-02T08:43:05.771-06:00The "War on Poverty" has been going on a...The "War on Poverty" has been going on a long time, and yet victory is no where in sight.<br /><br />Should the government ever get serious about financial responsibility, they could begin by cutting things that are not "social programs". Cut defense spending. Eliminate the Department of Education, etc.. But, that isn't painless because everything the government spends money on has a constituency that makes its living off of that spending. And then we have to hear how unfair it is that we are cutting the jobs of "working people" and how cruel it is that people will suffer because of these spending cuts. <br /><br />It seems that the easiest thing to do is to just borrow the money until that is no longer an option, or until the interest on the debt becomes a burden that can no longer be carried. And that is what is happening. <br /><br />I've never lived through the collapse of an economy, but I expect I soon will.Lancasternoreply@blogger.com