House panel votes $844 mln cut in food stamps: "And I heard 'em say, nothin's ever promised tomorrow, today..." (Wake up Mr. West!)

"Mr. West..."

"Mr. West..."

"Mr. West..."







"Uh, Yeah,

Uh, yeah,

Uh, yeah,

Uh, yeah...

"And I heard 'em say,
Nothin's ever promised tomorrow, today,
From the Chi, like Tim its the Hard-a-way,
So this is In The Name of Love, like Robert say,
Before you ask me, to go get a job today,
Can I at least get a raise, on the minimum wage?
And I know the government, administer AIDS,
So I guess we just pray, like the minister say,
Allahu Akbar, and throw 'em some hot cars,
Things we see on the screen, is not ours,
But these niggas from the hood,
So these dreams not far,
Where I'm from, the dope boys,
Is, the rock stars,
But they can't cop cars,
Without seein', cop cars,

I guess they want us all behind bars...

I know it...


[chorus]

Uh, And I heard 'em say,
Nothin's ever promised tomorrow, today,

(Ooooooooo)

And I heard 'em say,
Nothin's ever promised tomorrow, today,

(Nothing's ever promised tomorrow, today...)

But we'll find a way,

(And nothing lasts forever...
But, be honest, babe...
It helps, that it may be, the only way...)


They say people in your life, are seasons,
And anything that happen, is for a reason,
And niggas gun' clappin', and keep to squeezin',
And Gran keep prayin', and keep believin',
In Jesus, and one day, that ya see him,
'Til they walk in his footsteps, and try to be him,
The devil is alive, I feel him breathin',
Claimin' money is the key, so keep on dreamin',
And put them lottery tickets, just to tease us,
My aunt Pam, can't put those cigarettes down,
Now my lil' cousin smokin' them cigarettes now,
His job trying to claim, that he too niggerish now,
Is it 'cause his skin, blacker than licorice now?

I can't figure it out...

I'm stickin' it out...


[chorus]

Uh, And I heard 'em say,
Nothin's ever promised tomorrow, today,

(Ooooooooo)

And I heard 'em say,
Nothin's ever promised tomorrow, today,

(Nothing's ever promised tomorrow today...)

But we'll find a way,

(And nothing lasts forever...
But, be honest, babe...
It helps, that it may be, the only way...)


(With every worthless word...
We get more far away...
And nothing's ever promised tomorrow, today...
And nothing lasts forever...
But, be honest, babe...
It helps, that it may be, the only way...)

- Kanye West f. Adam Levine of Maroon 5, "Heard 'Em Say"


(...)

Hurricane Katrina evacuees wait in line for food stamps at Camp Edwards in Bourne, Massachusetts September 12, 2005. On a party-line vote, a Republican-run House of Representatives committee voted to cut food stamps by $844 million on Friday, just hours after a new Agriculture Department report showed more Americans are struggling to put food on the table. (Jessica Rinaldi/Reuters)

Yahoo! News

House panel votes $844 mln cut in food stamps

By Charles Abbott 26 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - On a party-line vote, a Republican-run U.S. House of Representatives committee voted to cut food stamps by $844 million on Friday, just hours after a new government report showed more Americans are struggling to put food on the table.

About 300,000 Americans would lose benefits due to tighter eligibility rules for food stamps, the major U.S. antihunger program, under the House plan. The cuts would be part of $3.7 billion pared from Agriculture Department programs over five years as part of government-wide spending reductions.

Agriculture Committee chairman Bob Goodlatte defended the decision, saying only a sliver of food stamp spending was affected and, for the most part, the cuts would eliminate people not truly eligible.

"This is not a giveaway program that results in windfall profits," said North Carolina Democrat G.K. Butterfield in opposing the cuts. "That is not moral. That is not American."

Antihunger activists said hunger rates were up for the fifth year in a row, so the cuts were a mistake.

"It is hard to imagine any congressional action that is more detached from reality," said James Weill of the Food Research and Action Center.

"Cutting food stamps now is a scandal," said David Beckman of Bread for the World, pointing to losses from hurricanes.

Approved 25-20, the committee package now will become part of an omnibus budget-cutting bill.

The House plan would also cut U.S. crop supports by $1 billion, land stewardship by $760 million, research by $620 million and rural development by $446 million.

The Senate's budget reduction plan would not touch food stamps, but would cut $3 billion from other USDA programs.

On food stamps, the House committee agreed to require immigrants to wait seven years, instead of the current five, to apply for aid. That would affect an estimated 70,000 people.

It also would deny food stamps to people who automatically get food stamps because they receive help through other welfare programs but whose income is above food stamp levels. About 225,000 people fall in that category.

North Dakota Democrat Earl Pomeroy complained that 40,000 children would lose free meals at school because of that provision.

"You have not even come clean that kids are going to lose school breakfast and school lunch under this," he said.

Goodlatte, a Virginia Republican, said states unfairly "have taken the opportunity to expand food stamp eligibility" beyond what the federal government intended. Democrat John Barrow of Georgia said Goodlatte was punishing states for using welfare reform laws to respond to local needs.

A new Agriculture Department report found 38.2 million Americans "were food insecure" in 2004, an increase of nearly 2 million from the previous year. Tufts University food economist Parke Wilde food insecurity "now equals the worst levels" since recordkeeping began a decade ago.

USDA said 11.9 percent of households, "at some time during the year, had difficulty providing enough food for all their members due to a lack of resources."

Food stamps help poor Americans buy food. About 25 million people get food stamps monthly.

The USDA had an overall budget of about $85 billion in fiscal 2005. Food stamps and other nutrition programs for the poor accounted for about $51 billion, with the remainder going to crop subsidies for farmers, food aid to foreign countries, farmland conservation, meat plant inspections and other farm-related programs.

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SOURCE - http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051028/pl_nm/food_congress_cuts_dc


(...)


"That's:
Why we in the streets!!!
That's:
Why we ridin' beats!!!

'Cause-
Next these motherfuckers-
Takin':
Rosa Parks seat!!!"

- Black Krishna, "Chokin' on Chomsky"

R.I.P. 1913 - 2005