The House of Representatives just passed a $26 billion bill intended to help states save teachers’ jobs and to prevent Medicaid cuts. In a rare case of anti-Robin-Hood-ness, this bill robs the poor AND gives to the poor. A major portion of the $26 billion spend will be offset by $11.9 billion in cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, a.k.a. food stamps. If you’re “poor” you’ll be able to visit the doctor, just make sure to pocket as many lollipops as you can on the way out. Liberal Democrats are less than thrilled with this outcome, although the food stamp cuts begin in 2014, so they’re hoping they will find an alternative offset by then. Representative Rosa DeLauro, (D-Connecticut) went so far as to say “As you can imagine, for me personally, it’s like ‘Sophie’s Choice’”. I wonder how her senior Senator, Joe Lieberman, would respond to that claim; considering Sophie’s actual choice was which child to hand over to the Nazis?
Robbing the poor to give to the poor
Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.