Demonizing the Poor

[TBF]

by Sanford Schram & Joe Soss
9-3-15

They are new variants of old practices that work to shore up work compliance, service business interests, impose moral programs on the poor, and strengthen broader political alliances and agendas.

In April, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback signed into law a new set of welfare rules titled, with an Orwellian flourish, the HOPE Act. The measure, Brownback stated, “provides an opportunity for success. It’s about the dignity of work and helping families move from reliance on a government pittance to becoming self-sufficient by developing the skills to find a well-paying job and build a career.”

Yet as critics were quick to point out, the new law was clearly more about limiting poor people’s decisions than about building their careers. The HOPE Act prohibits Kansas welfare recipients from withdrawing more than $25 in benefits per day and makes it illegal to spend public aid on jewelry, tattoos, massages, spa treatments, lingerie, tobacco, movies, bail bonds, arcade games, visits to swimming pools, fortunetellers, amusement parks, or ocean cruises.

Not to be outdone by their neighbor, Missouri’s legislators were soon debating whether to prohibit the use of foods stamps (officially called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP) for lobster as well as cookies, chips, energy drinks, and steak.

Federal rules may make it hard to put such restrictions into practice, as Florida officials have discovered after repeatedly mandating an invasive drug-testing regime for welfare recipients, but the feds can hardly be counted on for opposition. Last year Congress expanded its long list of welfare restrictions, prohibiting the withdrawal of cash welfare benefits at casinos, liquor stores, or strip clubs. As of April, twenty-three states had imposed additional limits on the use of Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards, and eighteen other states were considering the same ...

More here: https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/09/welfare-republicans-sam-brownback-race-corporations/

[PatrickforO]

1. Geez. You know what would actually work better?

A provision for meaningful training for TANF recipients, where they can first obtain their GED or high school diploma (with subsidized childcare) and then can go through up to two years of training leading to a high demand job, again with subsidized child and health care.

Now, I know the first thing out of a Republican's mouth will be, "Well, that isn't fair because I had to pay for my college!"

OK, so make college free, like Bernie wants to, and now we're just talking about subsidized childcare and healthcare.

So next, the Republican says, "Well, that isn't fair because I have to pay for my healthcare!"

OK, so institute Medicare for all Americans so that no one has to pay, except through taxes for high quality medical care. Something like Britain or Canada have.

So next, the Republican says, "Well, that isn't fair because I still have to pay for my childcare, and it's a pretty penny!"

OK, so expand low income childcare so we subsidize it for all.

Oh. Now the Republican says, "Well, that is OK then, maybe...BUT how are you gonna PAY for it?

Solution: expand the payroll tax for Medicare so that the system can be scaled to cover all Americans, then ensure the corporations who aren't paying any income tax on trillions in profits will pay their fair share, then cut military spending incrementally while providing training for those displaced from military and DOD jobs, then cut the domestic spying budget substantially and get rid of the Patriot Act.

The Republicans look on as the system begins to work. Fox News screams about socialism and how our very freedom is going away...

Begin cycle again.

[TBF]

3. I really don't care what the neandrathals

think about this - especially the ones spouting FOX news talking points.

[noiretextatique]

2. that literally made me ill

especially this:
As Republicans succeeded with this strategy, growing numbers of Democrats in the 1980s became eager to take these political clubs away from the competition. With Bill Clinton and others at the centrist Democratic Leadership Council taking the lead, Democrats began to advance modified versions of Republican ideas as their own and echo calls for tough new approaches to “underclass pathologies.”

After making the promise to “end welfare as we know it” a centerpiece of his 1992 campaign, Clinton oversaw the abolition of the federal entitlement program Aid to Families with Dependent Children, the creation of a tough new behavior-centered welfare regime, and a slew of policy and practical advancements in the construction of mass incarceration. Thus, for many years now, the color of punitive poverty governance has not been red or blue; it has been, as sociologist Joshua Page argues, purple.

For the life of me, I will NEVER understand why Bill Clinton is still popular with black people. Not this black person, mind you, but many.

[TBF]

4. I hear you -

Bill Clinton would talk a good game & people would buy it - no matter what he was signing off on the side (welfare "reform", NAFTA, repeal of key portions of Glass Steagall). George Bush Sr. did the same thing - explicitly stated no new taxes - then he promptly raised taxes on the middle class.

Page is correct about the purple thing - this has definitely been a bipartisan-led austerity experience in this country the past 35 years. I'm not black, but I did grow up in an area that was rural and poor. We actually had an ok lifestyle - could buy a house, have a couple of cars, because my parents were members of unions (dad worked in a steel mill). But that was back in the '70s and those jobs that actually gave us a robust middle class are gone for the most part, replaced by "service" jobs at minimum wage, part-time, few if any benefits.

[noiretextatique]

5. i grew up in similar circumstances

both dad and mom had union jobs and could afford to buy a house, take car vacations to visit family in the summer, and generally live a decent life. no way in hell I can do any of that, even with a degree and making decent money. my already considerable disdain for Bill Clinton, and the people who make excuses for him and the DLC, grows stronger with each passing day.