Good Morning.

We've all seen the classic economics graph about wartime vs. peacetime economies. As production of guns goes down, production of butter increases, and the footings of our economy shift in response.




But these days, I'm starting to think that we've been on a war footing for so long that we may never go back to a normal economy. But that's not what has gotten me pondering things this week.

We briefly discussed the latest dispatch from Cloud-Cuckoo land, where the republicans are proposing cutting off food stamps if your car is worth more than $5,000. I must ask though, what does that prove?

I've been at FCHP for 15 months. For the 36 months before that, I bounced between jobs, contracting here, temping there, collecting unemployment on two different stints....and existing on food stamps. During that entire time, I had access to reliable transportation, which meant I could apply for and interview for jobs that weren't necessarily on a bus line. Without my car, I would have never applied at Fallon, 40 miles away from home. (Counterpoint; and I would have never gotten insurance, and I'd be dead now, but I digress.)

It continues to boggle my mind, what the Republicans in our government are trying to do. I've asked this question before. I just don't get it. How is it possible that such an exclusionary, mean-spirited group of persons are able to convince enough others to believe the same things and get elected? It is my feeling that perhaps we've lost our moral compass somewhere along the way. It used to be easy to "do the right thing", but now it's become nearly impossible to do so.

But, back to food stamps. I wasn't on them for very long, but it made a difference. But then again, I knew what I was doing. Even today, skills that I taught myself make a difference. (For example, I went to the supermarket the other day and walked out of there with a week's worth of groceries, including some treats, for just $50.) But to hear the Republicans speak, that $50 a week is going to destroy America.

Remember, we have a war to feed as well. To turn a phrase, we find this morning's cost of war passing through:

$ 1, 449, 781, 675, 000 .00

Based on our population of 313.9 million, that's currently $4,618.00 for every man, woman, and child currently drawing a breath in these United States.

That will buy an awful lot of butter, won't it?