Socialists killing America with bread, circuses

Creating dependency degrades those who indulge and makes saps of those who do not. Worse, the tighter we weave the social safety net, the more we destroy the beautiful fabric of the nuclear family. The socialist Democrats in the United States are driving America to the dystopia of George Orwell's "1984" and Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World," and the front-line victims do not even see it.

A businessman was complaining about his constantly rising workers compensation costs. He was facing closing his small manufacturing plant, or moving to a friendlier state. Staying in the only state he ever knew was no longer an option.

He had a long-time employee who never did more than just enough to get passing scores. When competitive pressure forced the foreman to press him to step it up, he resisted. The foreman threatened to put a note to that effect in his personnel file. So the worker then informed the boss that his back hurt. He yelled, walked out and was not heard from until he sent a note in from a doctor saying he needed back treatment. The next time his co-workers saw him was when he showed up at the plant in his new RV, bought with the workers' compensation insurance settlement check. He was headed to Florida. Imagine what this communicated to his otherwise dedicated former co-workers.

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A cop responded to a domestic disturbance call. When he arrived and settled things down, he started asking some questions and got some surprisingly candid answers. The young couple was doing pretty well for two people with no jobs.

Cop: How do you afford all this without jobs?

Man: We do OK. We pull in about $30K per year.

Cop: How do you do that?

Man: Welfare, AFDC (aid to families with dependent children), SSI (Supplemental Security Income), food stamps, housing assistance, food pantries.

Cop: How do you get SSI?

Man: I slow

Apparently, you do not have to be a rocket scientist to figure out how to game the system.

In the late '90s, after 50 years of Democrats controlling both chambers in the General Assembly and the governorship for the majority of those years, Missouri welfare recipients reached a level in which almost a million people (nearly one in five) was on the dole. A group of social services workers began an informal effort to invite lawmakers to come hear their complaints. Instead of hearing about low pay, long hours or what the politicians might have expected to hear, they heard about the true source of the morale issues. They were tired of handing out benefits to people making more money than they were. They were tired of seeing partisans promoted to supervisor roles so that there were more managers than caseworkers. Mostly, they could not understand why they were told to sign up everyone they could, relax eligibility checks and even drive their personal cars to the homes of applicants who lacked reliable transportation. It seems the Cloward-Pivens strategy was in full swing even in America's heartland.

In 2005, that all changed when Republican Gov. Matt Blunt and the Republican Assembly passed "sweeping" reforms. Despite a vitriolic media campaign that contributed to Blunt's decision not to seek a second term, Blunt insisted on one thing. Eligibility needed to be demonstrated annually by the recipients. Within a year, almost 20 percent of recipients dropped off. Among the discoveries was that people from neighboring states were receiving benefits using Missouri post office boxes for their addresses.

The results of this insanity are predictable and well documented. The United States is the one place in the world where the poor are fatter than the working. It should be alarming to the people who claim the most moral authority in their determination to help them. Systematically helping people to be fat is immoral.

Now we learn that the USDA under the Obama administration is allowing the food-stamp Electronic Benefits Transfer, or EBT, card to be used at fast-food restaurants. I noticed a big banner in front of my local Papa John's a few weeks ago: "Now Accepting EBT cards.". Not to be outdone, the Rally's Hamburgers in the same strip mall will now let you buy a Baconzilla with your EBT card. Really? Are Democrats trying to kill the poor as part of a macabre effort to shrink the roles?

If the leftists really cared about the poor, instead of jumping into bed with corporate America, they would be insisting on firm limits on the use of EBT cards to healthy food. They would ban use for even processed food. Not surprisingly, the most leftist state in the country (California) is leading the charge in this immoral direction. Why?

The poor re-elected the president, who is acting against their interests while professing to be the agent of their hope. The gap between rich and poor has never been wider, minority unemployment has never been higher and our poor have never been fatter. Worst of all, family interdependence is all but nonexistent for the poor, as illustrated by the stunning figure of 68 percent out-of-wedlock births for black women.

Under the flawed social welfare system, the teenager who seeks "independence" from her parents can find it in pregnancy. At the end of life, the senior no longer needs children, as the government has programs for them. Economic interdependence was part of the glue that held together the family fabric that forced people to humble themselves and work out problems between one another. The socialists have eliminated that family binding glue in the U.S.

To help the poor tolerate being fat and dependent, the statists, led by George Soros, have even found their preferred Soma. Socialist Democrat-dominated California led the way with legalization of pot, followed by Democrat controlled Oregon and Colorado.

Destroying the nuclear family, killing the poor with flawed food, and placating people with expanded access to mind-altering drugs is no way to build a strong sovereign nation. No country can survive these assaults over time. Patriots know that true compassion is tough love, but it is more than that.

Christians are commanded to help the poor. Three times Jesus beseeches his followers to show their love for him by feeding His sheep. The socialists have twisted this beautiful calling by making the government the agent of all good works. Now the Christian American who wants to feed his poor neighbors does so with fear he is only helping them to get fatter. This is evil. Those who would create a system that enslaves people and do it in the name of justice, is the enemy of the people he professes to love.

As Rush Limbaugh aptly described this week, we do not want Republican lite. Our nation needs full-flavored Republican leadership that advances the simple policies that made the USA the greatest superpower the world has ever known. Republican leaders need to stand firm against perpetually raising the debt limit by drawing a firm red line that no more credit cards will be given until the Cloward-Pivens inspired, soul-destroying, social-welfare expanding entitlements are curbed. The GOP needs to man up, draw the red line, stick to it and do it now for the sake of the poor and the sake of our republic!