The NYT Mumbles about Poverty and Recovery: The Solution? MoreGovernment Programs.

The NYT Mumbles about Poverty and Recovery: The Solution? MoreGovernment Programs.

Abstract: The Old Gray Lady [NYT] has assembled her finest minds to analyze the poverty level in the US and pronounces social programs to be proper and carefully maintained during latter Bush and later Obama years. This effort has kept millions above the poverty level, a strange and largely self-defined metric that allows numerous conclusions and provides bawling points for further tax increases. Calling upon the experts to sanction and verify this splendid government action, the clarion call now trumpets forth to all progressives to warn the world that cuts in such benefits would ‘turn back the clock’ and poverty would overwhelm us. The message here is to keep on spending and this notion meshes conveniently with the socialist Nanny State nostrums from the European Union, soon to crash into financial oblivion from their own self-styled Nanny State governments and massive debt now threatening to crush that union. Here we see the old, stale Grunt and Grab rhymes and Tax and Spend mentality of the left all gussied up in tinsel and song so that the decent people can prevent the House from cutting social spending even if we are going bankrupt. The preordained conclusion is that we need to spend more and more and more.

We begin:

“In 2008, the first year of the Great Recession, the number of Americans living in poverty rose by 1.7 million to nearly 47.5 million. While hugely painful, that rise wasn’t surprising given the unraveling economy. What is surprising is that recent census data show that those poverty numbers held steady in 2009, even though job loss worsened significantly that year.”[1]--Poverty and Recovery EDITORIAL Published: January 18, 2011 [Emphasis is mine in all quotes.]

This looks like a set-up to ‘prove’ that our social spending and stimuli of various sort has kept poverty levels to a minimum. The implicit notion here is that our government has accomplished this wonderful feat in spite of the greedy corporations and racketeering banksters who would steal the few pieces of wealth that that poor have left. This is the very ultimate in underpinnings of socialist governments where their wonderful interaction between the greedy upper class and the poor defenseless peoples stands as a firewall to sustain peace, social justice and the redistribution of wealth. All this at a ruinous and unsustainable price.

I wonder how many illegal aliens are included in these numbers.

How to best read my blogs:

[I offer extensive quotes in this blog so that the reader can view the exact language and can be confident that nothing was taken out of context or that nobody was misquoted. The easiest way to take in the salient points is to read the emphatic points in the quotes and then peruse my comments. Comments on my comments are always welcome: ryckki@gmail.com.] [Emphasis is mine in all quotes.]

The problem:

“Clearly, the sheer scale of poverty — 15.7 percent of the country’s population — is unacceptable. But to keep millions more Americans from falling into poverty during a deep recession is a genuine accomplishment that holds a vital lesson: the safety net, fortified by stimulus, staved off an even more damaging crisis.” --Poverty and Recovery EDITORIAL January 18, 2011 [Emphasis is mine in all quotes.]

This finding comes from the census where the poverty level seemed to remain constant although jobs were lost. The first project in this blog is look at how that poverty level is defined. This Poverty line[2][3] is examined in this little piece. The NYT uses all sorts of references in this work and can apparently choose the most optimistic assessments from the lot to make their case. This is like a Monopoly game where one player gets to change the rules at will.

The Source:

“The latest poverty figures are from the census “alternative” data[4], developed in the 1990s to count income and expenses that the “official” data omit.” --Poverty and Recovery EDITORIAL January 18, 2011

Apparently, our government, or whomever we consider to be ‘official’ have abused realty and submitted numbers that are too rosy. We need to find other numbers from various places to show that more sending is necessary.

Okay, then where does this 15.7% number come from?? The government reference [from the cited US Census Bureau] below shows the ‘official poverty level’ to be 14.3%--not %15.7. This difference counts an additional 4.65 million people. What is going on here? Granted, this is 1.5% of the population or so but this should be explained as to how they arrived at this. Perhaps calculations that are off by several million are just fine.

According to Wikipedia, the poverty level is defined thusly: “Poverty is defined as the state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions”

This is a circular essay in number numbness where the notion of something that is socially acceptable defies any definition or boundaries. I think it is clear from these proceedings that the NYT (New York Times—aka the Walter Duranty Papers.)[5][6] is reaching as far out into the mysterious void of floating numbers as possible. From the confusion, we must find tax monies, or better yet—debt—to fund this wonderful project. The rich can be taxed and pay for this.

This marks a junction point for this editorial where the only possible socially acceptable path forward is have the government keep this spending level up at all costs. The rest is details.

Now, we call in the ‘experts’ to sanction the path forward:

“What analysts have found is that the antipoverty effect of government intervention in 2009 was profound. Calculations by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal-leaning research group, show that specific stimulus provisions — including expanded federal jobless benefits, new and improved tax credits for workers and bolstered food stamps — kept 4.5 million people out of poverty in 2009. Only Social Security and the earned income credit did more to fight poverty” --Poverty and Recovery EDITORIAL January 18, 2011

Our Social Security debt liability is $14.793 trillion on this date.[7]

But, there is more: The lever that opens up the tax faucets to maximum flow:

“The results are likely to be roughly similar in 2010 because most of the 2009 law was continued last year. The portents going forward are not good.” --Poverty and Recovery EDITORIAL January 18, 2011

The Demonization of the Right Wing begins:

“Federal aid is being scaled back, even though growth is not yet robust enough to make a sizable dent in unemployment. Late last year, Republicans blocked the extension of a successful stimulus program that had created 250,000 subsidized jobs for young people and low-income parents. They claimed the stimulus was an expensive failure, even as they pressed to renew the high-end Bush tax cuts. As part of the tax-cut deal, President Obama and Congress agreed to extend federal jobless benefits in 2011, but the checks will be $25 less a week than under the stimulus. That reduction could push an estimated 175,000 more people into poverty in 2011. The deal also included a one-year payroll tax cut that will benefit most workers, but it is less helpful to the lowest-income workers than a now-expired tax break in the stimulus.” --Poverty and Recovery EDITORIAL January 18, 2011

We can not be concerned with the notion, introduced in the negative sense above, that there are objections from the right about the efficiency of stimuli. It would be interesting to read in the NYT any essay or editorial on any social spending program that was determined, by their objective analysis, to have been a failure. I recall they just went silent on busing.

Here are some failures that are not acknowledged as failures by the NYT and other leftists:

We are still stuck with a 9.7% unemployment rate [as of March 27, 2010] and much of our current GDP comes from temporary stimuli like the recent ‘jobs’ program spent $92,000 per job[8] and, then, we spent $24,000 per car on the Clunker Follies and a mere $43,000 per house on the housing scam[9] And, none of these had a lasting effect. All of the money to propel this was either borrowed or printed up quickie fashion by our government.[10] This observation refutes the notion that the returns on government investments are effective or cost worthy. [11]

But, for an economically sterile advocacy group like the Times, this has no effect on their outlook. When it is time to waste more money the NYT will roll out their professional screed stringers to rubber stamp any spending program and to cast nastiness upon those in power on the right. Examples of such chum-chuckers are Maureen Dowd, the Old Red Lady [12][13][14]of the Old Gray Lady, who has graciously provided us with her ‘Unspoken Words Theorem.’ She can read between the lines of offensive written work or speech and tell us what certain writers are really thinking. Or, Frank the Crank[15][16]--Frank Rich who is well known for his supernatural ability to crank out sophomoric and doctrinaire far-left literary brats with sausage-machine tedium even when they apply to nothing in particular. He can sometimes identify a pratfall, even when it happens to a Clinton.[17] He is the hyperessayest[18] and self-anointed priest of Macacaism. [19] His sharpest literary weapon is the use of negative evidence as he doesn’t have to defend elements of nonexistence.[20]

Lesser entities can chuck in some smaller points that these two intellectual giants such as Old Brown Lady.[21] Then there are ‘converts’ or those who were originally ‘conservative’ that publish their stuff here like The Chief Babbler David Brooks[22][23]

The conclusion:

“We know it goes against the prevailing rhetoric to argue that more and better government policies are still needed to repair the economy. It is also unpopular to argue that programs that have succeeded for decades in reducing poverty, like Social Security, need to be preserved even as they are retooled for the 21st century. To do otherwise is to deny the evidence.

President Obama must explain to the American people that the country needs to continue relief and recovery efforts, especially programs to create jobs. Without that, tens of millions of Americans stuck in poverty will have little hope of climbing out — and many more could join their ranks.”--Poverty and Recovery EDITORIAL January 18, 2011

The debt is so high and now we have 99 weeks of benefits that will doubtless be extended in tearful tactics the prediction is that these people and many more, will joint the ranks of the impoverished when our currency is debased and our AAA credit rating is tossed in the trash. We blindly follow the Nanny State states in the European Union down the slope into financial oblivion.

Tax and spend for ANY reason. Well, the H0use can stop a lot of this. Just get the courage to do so because the abuse level you will get from this paper and similar ragzines will not roar much louder. They have shot most of their bolts already. They must now be saddled with their manifold failures and their votes tabulated and broadcasted among the heavens to spread the word that these people are little more than social parasites.

rycK

Comments to: ryckki@gmail.com

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[1] Poverty and Recovery EDITORIAL Published: January 18, 2011 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/19/opinion/19wed1.html?_r=1&ref=opinion [Emphasis is mine in all quotes.]

[2] Poverty in the United States is cyclical in nature with roughly 13 to 17% of Americans living below the federal poverty line at any given point in time, and roughly 40% falling below the poverty line at some point within a 10-year time span. Poverty is defined as the state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions.^[1]Approximately 43.6 million Americans were living in poverty in 2009, up from 39.8 million in 2008.^[--Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_threshold

[3] Determining the poverty line is usually done by finding the total cost of all the essential resources that an average human adult consumes in one year.^[1] This approach is needs-based in that an assessment is made of the minimum expenditure needed to maintain a tolerable life. This was the original basis of the poverty line in the United States, whose calculation was simplified to be based solely on the cost of food and is updated each year.-- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_threshold

[4] Census Bureau Releases Alternative Income and Poverty Estimates

“The Census Bureau has released alternative income and poverty estimates covering calendar year 2009, including breakdowns by age, sex and race.

These estimates do not revise or replace the official 2009 income and poverty estimates released Sept. 16, 2010. The official estimate of the national poverty rate remains at 14.3 percent.

The Census Bureau has released alternative measures of poverty for many years based on the recommendations of Congress and the National Academy of Sciences. The purpose of these alternate measures is to show the effect on income and poverty measures when factoring in a range of poverty thresholds and different assumptions about income sources (such as subsidized housing or free or reduced-price school lunches).”

http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/poverty/cb11-06.html

[5] The Babbling Brooks of the NYT Babbles about Israel and Hamas

http://rycksrationalizations.blogtownhall.com/2009/01/06/the_babbling_brooks_of_the_nyt_babbles_about_israel_and_hamas.thtml

[6] In honor of that celebrated Communist stooge and liar and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for the NYT. The color RED is used in my essays in honor of Walter Duranty, a saint, if there could be one, in the Marxist Archives of Honor.

“He said that these people had to be "liquidated or melted in the hot fire of exile and labor into the proletarian mass". Duranty claimed that the Siberian labor camps were a means of giving individuals a chance to rejoin Soviet society but also said that for those who could not accept the system, "the final fate of such enemies is death." Duranty, though describing the system as cruel, says he has "no brief for or against it, nor any purpose save to try to tell the truth". He ends the article with the claim that the brutal collectivization campaign which led to the famine was motivated by the "hope or promise of a subsequent raising up" of Asian-minded masses in the Soviet Union which only history could judge.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Duranty

[7] http://usdebtclock.org/

[8] 650,000 Strawdogs Bark at the Moon. The Obama ‘Recovery’ is a Numerical Monkey Circus

http://rycksrationalizations.blogtownhall.com/2009/10/31/650,000_strawdogs_bark_at_the_moon_the_obama_%E2%80%98recovery%E2%80%99_is_a_numerical_monkey_circus.thtml

[9] Belligerent Ignorance, Phony Economics and the Clunker Crusaders: Washington Wastes our Money Again.

http://rycksrationalizations.blogtownhall.com/2009/10/29/belligerent_ignorance,_phony_economics_and_the_clunker_crusaders_washington_wastes_our_money_again.thtml

[10] Maximizing Both Tax Revenues and Economic Growth: The Folly of Government and the Generation of Phony Numbers and Class Warfare

http://rycksrationalizations.blogtownhall.com/2010/03/27/maximizing_both_tax_revenues_and_economic_growth_the_folly_of_government_and_the_generation_of_phony_numbers_and_class_warfare.thtml

[11] Resurrecting a Zombie: The Revival of the Failed Keynesian Myth and the Logic of Joseph Stiglitz

http://ryckki.blogspot.com/2010/10/resurrecting-zombie-revival-of-failed.html

http://tiny.cc/3tf3i

[12] The Hag of Harpur and the Old Red Lady both Criticize the Obama Healthcare System and Hillary

http://rycksrationalizations.blogtownhall.com/2009/08/12/the_hag_of_harpur_and_the_old_red_lady_both_criticize_the_obama_healthcare_system_and_hillary.thtml

[13] The Old Red Lady of the Old Gray Lady Comments on Losers: Clinton and Kim

http://rycksrationalizations.blogtownhall.com/2009/08/05/the_old_red_lady_of_the_old_gray_lady_comments_on_losers_clinton_and_kim.thtml

[14] The Old Red Lady of the Old Gray Lady Howls at the Moon. Palin has Rattled Her Cage Door.

http://rycksrationalizations.blogtownhall.com/2009/07/06/the_old_red_lady_of_the_old_gray_lady_howls_at_the_moon_palin_has_rattled_her_cage_door.thtml

[15] The NYT’s Frank the Crank Smears Glenn Beck and Maintains the Quality of Journalism at the Old Gray Lady

http://rycksrationalizations.blogtownhall.com/2009/09/22/the_nyt%e2%80%99s_frank_the_crank_smears_glenn_beck_and_maintains_the_quality_of_journalism_at_the_old_gray_lady.thtml

[16] Frank [the Crank] of the NYT Picks Nits, Snits and Twits and Finds McCain Unacceptable, again.

http://rycksrationalizations.blogtownhall.com/2008/09/07/frank_[the_crank]_of_the_nyt_picks_nits,_snits_and_twits_and_finds_mccain_unacceptable,_again.thtml

Frank [the Crank] of the NYT Reslogans the Slogans. A new story that Obama must tell!

http://rycksrationalizations.blogtownhall.com/2008/08/24/frank_[the_crank]_of_the_nyt_reslogans_the_slogans__a_new_story_that_obama_must_tell!.thtml

Frank [the Crank] of the NYT Puts Up a Sloppy Diversion. McCain is Unknown?

http://rycksrationalizations.blogtownhall.com/2008/08/20/frank_[the_crank]_of_the_nyt_puts_up_a_sloppy_diversion_mccain_is_unknown.thtml

Frank [the Crank] of the NYT Has Nothing to Say, So He Moans and Says Nothing.

http://rycksrationalizations.blogtownhall.com/2008/07/20/frank_[the_crank]_of_the_nyt_has_nothing_to_say,_so_he_moans_and_says_nothing.thtml

Propaganda Gem: Frank the Crank Clarifies Anger for the Women Voters and the Polls Show Obama Wins the Most Women!

http://rycksrationalizations.blogtownhall.com/2008/06/15/propaganda_gem_frank_the_crank_clarifies_anger_for_the_women_voters_and_the_polls_show_obama_wins_the_most_women!.thtml

Frank The Crank of the NYT Glubbers and Toots over Obama.

http://rycksrationalizations.blogtownhall.com/2008/06/08/frank_the_crank_of_the_nyt_glubbers_and_toots_over_obama.thtml

Frank the Crank [Rich] Dumps on Clintoonery to Save Racism http://rycksrationalizations.blogtownhall.com/2008/05/11/frank_the_crank_[rich]_dumps_on_clintoonery_to_save_racism.thtml

[17] Frank Rich Expounds on Slick Willie’s Pratfall.

Tuesday, December 04, 2007 4:04 PM

http://rycksrationalizations.townhall.com/g/e38fe3fb-43a9-4fe5-88a4-23ad34795e2c

[18] A new word.

[19] The NYT wants us to get off Reverend Wright…[Remember the Macaca Follies?]

http://rycksrationalizations.blogtownhall.com/2008/05/03/the_nyt_wants_us_to_get_off_reverend_wright…[remember_the_macaca_follies].thtml.

[20] The NYT’s Frank the Crank Mumbles about Missing Links. Typical propaganda http://rycksrationalizations.blogtownhall.com/2009/11/18/the_nyt%E2%80%99s_frank_the_crank_mumbles_about_missing_links_typical_propaganda.thtml

[21] The Old Brown Lady of the New York Times [Old Gray Lady] Mumbles Dootifully about the Criminal Good Time Charlie Rangel

http://rycksrationalizations.blogtownhall.com/2009/10/08/the_old_brown_lady_of_the_new_york_times_[old_gray_lady]_mumbles_dootifully_about_the_criminal_good_time_charlie_rangel.thtml

[22] The Babbling Brooks of the NYT Babbles about the Suicide March of Liberalism

http://rycksrationalizations.blogtownhall.com/2009/07/22/the_babbling_brooks_of_the_nyt_babbles_about_the_suicide_march_of_liberalism.thtml

[23] The Babbling Brooks of the NYT Babbles about Decision Making [?!] and Perception?

http://rycksrationalizations.blogtownhall.com/2008/10/28/the_babbling_brooks_of_the_nyt_babbles_about_decision_making_[!]_and_perception.thtml

The Babbling Brooks of the NYT Babbles about Nihilism with Innovative Socialist and Nihilist Overtones. Raise Taxes!

http://rycksrationalizations.blogtownhall.com/2008/10/01/the_babbling_brooks_of_the_nyt_babbles_about_nihilism_with_innovative_socialist_and_nihilist_overtones__raise_taxes!.thtml

The Babbling Brooks of the NYT Babbles about Obama and his Failure to Have a Clear Lead Over McCain.

http://rycksrationalizations.blogtownhall.com/2008/08/05/the_babbling_brooks_of_the_nyt_babbles_about_obama_and_his_failure_to_have_a_clear_lead_over_mccain.thtml

The Babbling Brooks of the NYT Babbles about Education.

http://rycksrationalizations.blogtownhall.com/2008/07/29/the_babbling_brooks_of_the_nyt_babbles_about_education.thtml

The Babbling Brooks of the NYT Babbles about Debt and Blame but Offers No Solution.

http://rycksrationalizations.blogtownhall.com/2008/07/22/the_babbling_brooks_of_the_nyt_babbles_about_debt_and_blame_but_offers_no_solution.thtml

The Babbling Brooks of the NYT Babbles about Lincoln, Mercury Pills and The Grip of Emotions. [?!]

http://rycksrationalizations.blogtownhall.com/2008/06/06/the_babbling_brooks_of_the_nyt_babbles_about_lincoln,_mercury_pills_and_the_grip_of_emotions_[!].thtml

From the Babbling Brooks: Confusion, Hokum and Fluff: Vote for Obama

http://rycksrationalizations.blogtownhall.com/2008/05/06/from_the_babbling_brooks_confusion,_hokum_and_fluff_vote_for_obama.thtml

Echoes from the Babbling Brooks Envision a New Conservatism. The New York Times Advises Us on Society, as Usual: Higher Taxes

Posted by rycK on Saturday, February 16, 2008 10:37:49 AM

http://rycksrationalizations.blogtownhall.com/2008/02/16/echoes_from_the_babbling_brooks_envision_a_new_conservatism_the_new_york_times_advises_us_on_society,_as_usual_higher_taxes.thtml

Brooks of the New York Times Mumbles about Bugs, Independent Voters and Mechanical Liberalism Tuesday, January 08, 2008 10:36 AM

http://rycksrationalizations.townhall.com/g/50bf9f36-0e0b-4e9a-be6d-5234d0d54f2c

The Babbling Brooks of the NYT Babbles about Obama and his Failure to Have a Clear Lead Over McCain.

http://rycksrationalizations.blogtownhall.com/2008/08/05/the_babbling_brooks_of_the_nyt_babbles_about_obama_and_his_failure_to_have_a_clear_lead_over_mccain.thtml

The Babbling Brooks of the NYT Babbles about Education.

http://rycksrationalizations.blogtownhall.com/2008/07/29/the_babbling_brooks_of_the_nyt_babbles_about_education.thtml

Echoes from the Babbling Brooks Envision a New Conservatism. The New York Times Advises Us on Society, as Usual: Higher Taxes Posted by rycK on Saturday, February 16, 2008 10:37:49 AM

http://rycksrationalizations.blogtownhall.com/2008/02/16/echoes_from_the_babbling_brooks_envision_a_new_conservatism_the_new_york_times_advises_us_on_society,_as_usual_higher_taxes.thtml