Guess what? More Americans — and a higher percentage of them as well — are on food stamps than at any time since the program was initiated in the 1960s under the Lyndon B. Johnson administration.
Welcome to the Era of Hope and Change.
Over 44 million Americans were on food stamps as of February 1, 2011. That’s 14.3 percent. Here’s the graph via the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program:
Wow. This is something of which our nation can truly be proud. More Americans dependent on government just to eat.
This of course does not include the number of Americans taking community meals.
SNAP should get together with the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The BLS publishes data on unemployment and inflation, among other things. Maybe we could combine SNAP and the BLS into one agency called, S-C-R-E-W-E-D.
Worst. Economy. Ever. Also, not coincidentally … Worst. President. Ever.
This is by design, folks. The Obama Regime and the Democrats want more people dependent on government for their very existence. That way, they can rely on those votes in the 2012 elections. Remember: Those who rob Peter to pay Paul can always depend on Paul’s vote.
Notice when the graph began to skyrocket (pardon the expression, since that’s what the Regime wants energy prices to do as well). Right after the Regime came into power. Coincidence? I think not.
The graph is sufficiently grim and depressing on its own to make further commentary largely unnecessary, but I will add one sardonic comment. If current conditions are what the White House considers to be “our economic recovery,” then let me be clear: You’re Doing It Wrong.
And Doing It Wrong Deliberately. There … fixed it for you.
The only area that has seen economic recovery is the gummint sector. Porkulus was rammed through to protect jobs of gummint union workers and give them pay raises while Americans holding jobs in the real world watched them disappear permanently.
One of the best pullquotes I’ve seen since the arrest of Katherine Windels comes from Bryan Preston, formerly of Hot Air and now of the PJ Tatler at Pajamas Media.
In linking back here to our coverage of the charges filed against Windels for the bomb threats at the State Capitol and the death threats made against Republican members of the State Senate and Gov. Walker, Preston writes:
It must be comforting for Wisconsinites to know that their teachers are threatening to get kinetic and their DA’s are slow in protecting elected officials, and that their police are threatening businesses, all in the name of preserving union might.
Yesterday, there was a bunch of protesters — maybe 20 or so — on the southeast corner of the intersection of Highways 20 and 31 waving signs and yelling. Dumb signs like we saw in Madison. One had a picture of Gov. Walker with a Hitler mustache, another had the governor with a red clown’s nose. I was heading north on Highway 31 and going to turn right to go east on Highway 20. Made sure that when I got close enough, the protesters saw The Bird as I went past and turned to head on to my destination.
Now, I am fully expecting a knock on the door here within the next week. A visit from the police, since I am sure one of them took down my license plate number to report my exercising my First Amendment rights. Such a visit would be an act of intimidation from yet another union goon — yes, police are union and sad to say, many are more sympathetic to Da Union than their obligation to protect and serve.
But there’s nothing they can do except attempt to intimidate. You see, the U.S. Supreme Court had decided that The Bird, like flag burning, is constitutionally protected free speech. A case of a man issued a citation for giving someone else The Bird made it all the way to the SCOTUS, which ruled in the man’s favor.
A commenter in another thread objected to my decision to compare Da Gummint Union thugs to Nazi stormtroopers and brownshirts, both in words and with a graphic. Well, when they stop acting like Nazi stormtroopers and brownshirts, I will stop comparing them to Nazi stormtroopers and brownshirts.
Union teachers are nothing more than your average garden variety union thug. They stopped being professionals decades ago, when they opted for illegal strikes in the state and acted like picketing auto workers. When’s the last time you walked through a gummint skool and saw teachers dressed like professionals? Think about it. They stopped acting like professionals, they stopped dressing like professionals, they stopped being professionals.
They do little more than brainwash unsuspecting kids with progressive propaganda, preparing them to be tools of the state. Remember the disgusting video of Da Union Thugs taking second and third grade children to the State Capitol and having them repeat mindless union chants? Stuff like “Hey, Hey, Ho, Ho, Scott Walker has got to go.”
Child abuse. Heck, were he still alive, I’d be more comfortable with Michael Jackson as a babysitter for my kids than having them in the control of a union teacher. Union teachers poison and destroy kids’ minds.
This is the mentality of the people waging war against the taxpayers. Nothing but parasites. They create no wealth and exist on the wealth created by others.
Every single one of those descriptions fits the members of the Left, from unhinged anarchists and moonbats like Jim Shankman and Katherine Windels to the thugs, goons and bullies from SEIU, AFL-CIO, AFSCME, the Teamsters and the Wisconsin Extortion Association Council, every one of them is straight out of 1930s Germany with their tactics and style of intimidation.
We had AFSCME thugs attempting racketeering and extortion on small businesses in Union Grove this week, threatening to shut down any business that declined to put a pro-AFSCME sign in its window. Heck, I’d rather see these guys on my doorstep than the gummint union thugs. They have more class.
Thankfully, few of the businesses in Union Grove knuckled under to goons’ approach, which essentially was: “Nice place you got here. Be a shame if something were to happen to it.”
State Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-Racine) has requested an investigation into the unions’ threats against businesses that do not comply with their demands.
Wanggaard said he believes the threats may violate the Taft-Hartley Act and other state laws, according to a press release that he issued Thursday.
“These kinds of mob tactics are rightly forbidden under the law, and should be prosecuted,” Wanggaard said in the press release.
He sent letters requesting an investigation to Racine County District Attorney Michael Nieskes, U.S. Attorney James Santelle and Attorney General JB Van Hollen.
Marty Beil, executive director of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 24, said there is no boycott in an email Friday.
“There was some unfortunate overzealousness in the field,” the email read. “We have made clear all along that we see small business as a partner and ally in getting Wisconsin back to work.”
The statement comes in the wake of a letter sent Tuesday to many Union Grove businesses from AFSCME Council 24 Field Rep. Jim Parrett threatening to boycott those that declined to display signs supporting “workers rights.”
Parrett confirmed in an email Friday afternoon saying only that there is no boycott and referring further questions to Beil. It was not clear Friday whether Parrett was acting of his own accord or how the boycott threat came about.
This is on top of the threatened boycotts endorsed by the Wisconsin Professional Police Association, the Professional Firefighters of Wisconsin, the Green Bay Extortion Association and other gummint unions, including the Dane County Sheriff’s Association (no wonder Windels hasn’t been arrested) against M & I Bank, various Sendik’s Grocery Stores and Kwik Trip convenience stores among others because of the donations made to Gov. Walker, the Republican Party and other conservative causes made by private individuals employed by those businesses. In order to get off the list, to have the target removed from their backs (oops … can we even say that any more in the Era of Civility and New Tone?), the business has to publicly refudiate its own employee(s) as well Gov. Walker and any other target of Da Union’s vitriol. In other words, you as a private citizen may find yourself condemned publicly by your own employer for political donations made by you with your own money on your own time.
Now, Da Teamsters have targeted WISN-AM in Milwaukee for its radio content. Its popular programming consists of local hosts Jay Weber and Mark Belling, Vicki McKenna (who is also heard in Madison in the afternoons) and nationally syndicated Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck and Mark Levin shows.
Thomas L. Millonzi, Secretary Treasurer of Da Teamsters Local 200 is the signatory thug on both letters. Here’s Da Teamsters Local 200 website. Here’s their contact information:
6200 W. Bluemound Road
Milwaukee, WI 53213
Phone (414) 771-6363
Toll free (800) 272-3934
Fax (414) 771-5850
E-mail: Click here to contact Local 200
Make a phone call. Write a letter. Send an e-mail. Let them know you will be patronizing WISN advertisers specifically as a result of their racketeering and extortion.
The MacIver Institute estimates that 95,000 private sector jobs in Wisconsin are at risk because of the stormtrooper mentality of Da Gummint Unions.
And, a conservative organization making Freedom Of Information Act requests for the e-mails of University of Wisconsin System employees suspected of conducting union agitation and other political activities against Gov. Walker on UW time and using UW computers has received bomb and death threats from unhinged leftards.
Looking to get a handle on just how extensive this potential abuse of taxpayer resources was, the Mackinac Center for Public Policy filed Freedom of Information Act requests for the emails sent, which are a matter of public record. Unfortunately, the requests were leaked to the liberal media and lefty websites like Talking Points Memo and MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow picked up the story as though it represented some sort of wrong-doing by this organization.
Mackinac Center President Joseph Lehman said the Mackinac Center has contacted law enforcement about the threats.
“We, along with the authorities, are doing everything necessary to protect ourselves,” Lehman said. “No threats will prevent us from showing the public how universities spend tax dollars.”
There were five messages left containing death or bomb threats. Four of them appear to be from the same caller. A fifth message was from a woman who left a death threat and, unlike the previous caller, left her name and indicated she lived in a neighboring state. It was unclear if the second caller was the same as the first caller.
A female voice said: “Scotty Walker is dead. So are you. We know where you live.” The woman then recited the Mackinac Center’s address and said, “We are coming up to destroy you.”
In another message, a female who left her name said: “You are on Main Street. You are the first place to be bombed.”
In another message, a female voice said: “We are going to destroy everybody. We are going to destroy all of you. All of you die. Midland, Michigan. Get ready. We are going to destroy all of you.”
This must be that “new tone” the left was lecturing the tea party about after the Tucson shootings.
We can only hope that this changes the election, but victim Troy Merryfield has taken to the airwaves, featured in an ad supporting Justice David Prosser paid for by Citizens for a Strong America (via Jim Nolte at Big Government):
You can read more about the original Greater Wisconsin Committe smear ad here and here, including Joanne Kloppenburg’s refusal to condemn it.
Right now, the race is too close to call. If it were held today, I’d say Kloppenburg wins, 52-48. The wind is at her back. It comes down to turnout.
It’s despicable to see the State Supreme Court turned into a political football by the Left in order to advance its agenda. If this turns out to be the end result, why even bother having elections? Seriously.
Roy Hobbs himself will throw out the first pitch of the Chicago Cubs’ home opener at Wrigley Field against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Robert Redford, award-winning actor and film director, says he is eager to throw out the ceremonial first pitch before Friday’s season opener at Wrigley Field between the Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates.
“A great stadium, one of the great ballparks in America,” Redford said Thursday night after the private screening of the film he directed — “The Conspirator” — at the AMC River East 21 Theatre in Chicago. “I look forward to it.”
The movie was supported by the Ricketts family, owners of the Cubs. A private party was held after the screening at the River East Arts Center, where Cubs employees, politicians and other local VIPs and celebrities gathered for cocktails and hors’ devours.
Among his numerous film credits, Redford, 74, is known for his role in “The Natural,” a 1984 film adaptation of Bernard Malamud’s 1952 baseball novel.
“To me there are two great stadiums in America: Fenway Park and Wrigley Field. And we tried to make ‘The Natural’ in Wrigley Field and we couldn’t do it because they didn’t have lights. Now they do,” Redford said.
The Natural and Hoosiers are my two favorite sports movies and arguably among the best sports movies ever made.
This is the final home run sequence from The Natural:
Great cast as well supporting Redford. Robert Duvall. Glenn Close. Robert Prosky from Hill Street Blues. An uncredited Darren McGavin. Wilford Brimley (now best known as hawking medical supplies on TV).
The baseball scenes were shot in Buffalo, N.Y. You can still visit the location where it was shot, but a Google search informed me that the classic old grandstand was torn down several years ago due to safety concerns, but the baseball field itself still exists and is used by local baseball teams.
And no, I don’t care about Robert Redford’s politics. Three of his movies are among my favorites — Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, The Sting and The Natural.
As of this morning, deranged lefty moonbat Katherine Windels has still not been arrested on the charges that were issued — only after public prodding by the Wisconsin Department of Justice — against her in the death threats made against Republican State Senators and Gov. Scott Walker and the bomb threats made against the State Capitol.
Dane County district attorney Ismael Ozanne Thursday charged Windels for allegedly sending e-mails to all nineteen republican state senators, threatening to kill them over their actions on proposed public employee collective bargaining revisions. A criminal complaint states Windels set up an email address under the name of acquaintance Lisa Patterson and used that address to deliver the email threats.
Madison police reports show Patterson told police on Oct. 14, 2010 she had received text messages from Windels and wanted follow up from officers.
Madison police’s records custodian redacted all reference to the content of the text messages in reports released to WKOW27 News.
In the reports, an officer stated he tried to contact Windels, but was unsuccessful, and ultimately left a voice mail message telling her to cease any contact with Patterson.
Ed Morrissey raises a legitimate point at Hot Air, one that Dane County law enforcement needs to answer.
She sounds like a seriously disturbed individual, and police should be answering why they have yet to take her into custody. They’d better hope Windels doesn’t attack someone before the courts deal with these charges.
Although she’s not a Wisconsin Extortion Association Council goon or any other union thug, she is clearly a deranged lefty, much like our friend Jim Shankman. You can see him here and read about his threats against University of Wisconsin law professor Ann Althouse and her husband here.
In the wake of Jared Lee Loughner, can law enforcement afford to take any threat lightly? Six people are dead in Arizona and others critically wounded because the warning signs were ignored.
I can offer an explanation as to why Windels is not in custody and the charges were issued a month after the criminal act was committed. It’s Dane County. And the People’s Republic of Madison. The Madison cops, the Dane County Sheriff’s Department and the Dane County DA’s office are on the side of the union goons. Certainly not every single officer and member of the DA’s office, but those who set policy are.
Dane County law enforcement was willing to let this go and hope people would forget about it. At Andrew Breitbart’s Big Government, Bret Healy has the letter from the Wisconsin DOJ in which it details how the Democrat DA of Dane County dragged his heels in issuing charges against Windels. It’s the same letter that Charlie Sykes has here. Here’s the money quote:
On Monday, March 23, 2011 the Department of Justice learned through press reports that the Dane County District Attorney had returned the referral to the Department citing clerical and administrative issues related to the reports transfer. Importantly the investigative reports themselves were not returned. It is important to note that this Department routinely refers investigative reports to District Attorneys, including the Dane County District Attorney, for their review and charging decisions.
This is where this matter currently sits.
We are concerned about the lack of action regarding this referral.
It’s worth noting that, while he could not find the time to act on the DOJ’s criminal referral, Dane County DA Ismael Ozanne, a Democrat, could find time to file the lawsuit to block implementation of the budget repair bill, which has since become law.
And since the Wisconsin Professional Police Association is officially involved in the racketeering and extortion campaign being conducted by gummint unions against businesses, the role of law enforcement in this cannot be underestimated. Windels has still not been apprehended; if this had been one of us, or a Tea Party protester, we would have had officers placing us in handcuffs and taking us into custody within an hour of the charges being issues. Also frog-marched across national TV screens, just to put a violent face on the Right or the Tea Party.
I can’t get my head around the concept of police involvement in boycotting businesses. That reads like pure corruption. I can’t believe it’s being done openly. Can someone explain to me how you can even argue that it is acceptable for police to extort political support from citizens?
Or look the other way when crimes are being committed, as they have been here and were all during the weeks-long protests at the State Capitol? Just because the police chose not to arrest anyone doesn’t mean the protests weren’t violent — they were, as has been documented over and over again — and that crimes were not committed.
But then, since law enforcement has chosen to place its union sympathies ahead of doing its job to safeguard the public and enforce thaw law, we shouldn’t be surprised at the turn of events.
Note for the record: I am not speaking for every single police officer or sheriff’s deputy in the state. I know many are disgusted at what the WPPA has done and their colleagues who have sided with Da Union against the people. I suspect those are in the significant majority.
Windels needs to be taken into custody immediately.
