How do you feel about the term "Cat Food Commission" being used for the Deficit Commission ?

[1776Forever]

If you don't know what it refers to here is an article that explains it:

Deficit Commission Co-Chair: Social Security T-Bills Have "Been Used"

June 18, 2010
-- by Dave Johnson

http://www.seeingtheforest.com/archives/2010/06/deficit_commiss.htm

......The Commission: Now there is the Deficit Commission looking into how to raise money to cover what the government handed out as tax cuts to the rich. Rather than get the money from where the money went, the plutocrats are instead trying to convince people that it would make more sense to just cut Social Security instead, so they don't have to pay it back. The commission is meeting in secret, preparing to recommend cutting Social Security benefits. Hence the nickname for the Commission: "Cat food Commission," because cutting Social Security would force as many as 1.5 million old people into poverty and eating cat food for dinner because it costs less.

(more at link)
.....................

:shrug:

[Oregone]

1. Doesn't catfood cost more than flake tuna (or mackerel), sugar, and canola oil?

Calorie for calorie?

[1776Forever]

2. Perhaps, I think it is the anology of the cat food and not the cost but you are probably right. n/t

[Oregone]

3. A former college student on a budget would know

I would of tried catfood if I had to. :) Eating bones, skin and guts in mackerel got the job done instead.

[Ozymanithrax]

4. It is a common story going back to, at least, the 50's, as I recall...

The story is that the poor, unable to afford better, ate cat food. This was at a time before the gourmet cat food craze swept the nation, and cat food was cheaper.

[glitch]

9. think kibble nt

[Oregone]

12. Yuck. Dry catfood.

[JVS]

59. I never thought Morris the cat posted on DU!

;-)

[Hannah Bell]

39. not unless you're buying premium brands.

[Dr.Phool]

55. We're talking DRY cat food here.

Maybe even melamine added dry dog food.

[Junkdrawer]

5. When the Tax Cuts for the Rich didn't produce the jobs Reagan promised....

He had Greenspan slap a regressive flat tax (FICA increase) on the working poor to address the then-record deficits.

Obvious Just Solution: Restore the top rates to what they were before Reagan and use the money to pay back the trust fund.

[SunnySong]

6. Cat food ain't cheap... maybe the dollar store commision. nt

[HughMoran]

7. It makes me ignore the poster's words

I just unrec and hide any post where that moronic expression is used.

[aquart]

8. Prices a can of Friskies lately?

[Hatchling]

21. 40 cents for the 5 oz can.

Or you can buy a 32 pack for $13.

Mmm...the Turkey and Giblets flavor smells pretty good but not even the cats will eat Country Supper!

[Foo Fighter]

22. Whatever you do, do NOT try the Kidneys and Cream.

Gawd, that crap was awful.

[Art_from_Ark]

33. If you bought 32 cans individually

they would cost $12.80

[Spazito]

10. I find it quite silly and childish....

and using it does not lead to any substantive discussion, it actually misdirects the debate from the Commission itself to a debate about the use of "Cat food Commission", imo.

[Scurrilous]

11. It makes me Chuckles.

:P

[90-percent]

13. Hot Plate Heaven at the Green Hotel

From a mid eighties Zappa album, Broadway the Hard Way


I used to have a job
An' I was doin' very well
Depression came along
An' everybody start to yell
'where'd they go, them good ol' days,
'an all that crap we used to sell? '
Now I'm in hot-plate heaven,
At the green hotel

Republicans is fine,
If you're a multi-millionaire
Democrats is fair,
If all you own is what you wear
Neither of 'em's really right,
'cause neither of 'em care
'bout that hot-plate heaven,
'cause they ain't been there

They really oughta go
'n find out how the hall-way smell --
They'd benefit to know
'bout what the bums in there could tell
(of course we're only dreamin',
But I s'pose it's just as well
That's all you get to dream
Up in the green hotel)

Nature didn't put me here
An' neither did my fate --
It musta been some evil ol'
Republican candidate!
He's over here in washington,
But I wish he was in hell
'cause I'm in hot-plate heaven
At the green hotel

Things is slightly better now;
They hope we will forget
The misery of 'trickle down',
An' jelly-bean etiquette
The regal presidential style
Has simply not worn well,
An' neither has my rags,
Up in the green hotel

"pass the dog food" is the last line, included in alternate versions

-90% Jimmy

[tammywammy]

14. I think it's stupid and I immediately discount anyone that uses it. n/t

[Canuckistanian]

15. It's an accurate term

If the recommendations are enacted, catfood consumption WILL rise.

I'm sure the pet food lobby is in on this one, too.

[Fumesucker]

16. I think it's an extremely apt term..

And I automatically discount the opinion of anyone who uses the "official" name.

[TheKentuckian]

18. +1 though I'll listen to see if they don't spout decades old Reich wing talking points (as usual)

before dismissing their cockamamie nonsense.

[Junkdrawer]

20. +2

*someone* is afraid the term may be too effective...

[QC]

49. +3

[Individualist]

50. ++

[donco6]

17. Accurate and appropriate. n/t

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

19. It's a helluva lot more appropriate than the Department of "Defense". K&R

[Donnachaidh]

23. I think the reality is ALREADY here in some poorer communities

With all those people on UI, lower sales taxes coming into communities - perhaps the seniors may not be at that point, but if foodbanks run low (or people are too proud to ask for help) I truly think we already HAVE a portion of the populace at the *catfood* subsistence level.

[Hatchling]

37. Food banks are already running low.

I used to get 4-5 full bags of groceries at the foodbank, now I get 1-2 that aren't filled up at all. And there aren't any fresh foods anymore, just canned. There also used to be a lot of day old bread, but stores have found they can sell the day old so they aren't giving it to the shelters now.

And there are a lot more people showing up, not just the regulars.

[Donnachaidh]

41. I know, we used to have to use foodbanks

I noticed the quality and quantity was going down when we were still going, just a few months ago. We stopped going to one entirely, because a bag they gave us was infested with bugs, and some of the canned stuff was past the date of use.

With 38 people a minute losing benefits it's going to get UGLY out there. And if there isn't any real help for those folks come winter? I don't really want to think of how bad it WILL get.

[Foo Fighter]

24. I don't like it.

I prefer to call it "The Commission That Is Bound And Determined To Screw Us Out Of Every Single Dime We Ever Paid Into Social Security And Medicare Instead Of Raising Taxes On The Rich And Making Them Pay Us Back Since That's Where The Money Went In The First Place."

OK, maybe that's a little long.

I guess "Cat Food Commission" is more succinct.

[Zenlitened]

26. Ka-booom!

:applause: :applause: :applause:

I prefer to call it "The Commission That Is Bound And Determined To Screw Us Out Of Every Single Dime We Ever Paid Into Social Security And Medicare Instead Of Raising Taxes On The Rich And Making Them Pay Us Back Since That's Where The Money Went In The First Place."

[1776Forever]

27. That was priceless! Thank you! ROFL..

:rofl: :yoiks: :rofl:

[jgraz]

29. Well done

:rofl:

[Art_from_Ark]

32. +1000

That was priceless :rofl:

[leftstreet]

38. +1

[Chisox08]

25. I call it the Alpo bailout commission

The Banks and the insurance companies got bailouts now it is time Alpo and Purina to get theirs.

[1776Forever]

28. Deep but true! n/t

[griffi94]

31. i like that one as well

[IndianaGreen]

61. Alpo is too expensive. How about Snappy Dog Food Commission?

Snappy even sold horse meat as dog food back years ago.

[Robeson]

30. I love it. Didn't realize there was an issue for using that term.

[IndianaGreen]

34. Some people here are trying to impose Newspeak on the board

Newspeak is a fictional language in George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. The term was also used to discuss Soviet phraseology.<1> In the novel by Orwell, it is described as being "the only language in the world whose vocabulary gets smaller every year". Orwell included an essay about it in the form of an appendix<2> in which the basic principles of the language are explained. Newspeak is closely based on English but has a greatly reduced and simplified vocabulary and grammar. This suits the totalitarian regime of the Party, whose aim is to make any alternative thinking—"thoughtcrime", or "crimethink" in the newest edition of Newspeak—impossible by removing any words or possible constructs which describe the ideas of freedom, rebellion and so on. One character, Syme, says admiringly of the shrinking volume of the new dictionary: "It's a beautiful thing, the destruction of words."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newspeak

[Robeson]

35. Then those people need to get a life.

[Name removed]

42. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Hannah Bell]

40. for sure.

[newspeak]

47. did you call?

I love words like "clean air initiative" and "the forest preservation initiative" and how about the "clean energy initiative?" And, really WAR is PEACE, got that?

[Individualist]

51. By their posts, you shall know them

[sabrina 1]

36. Very accurate, especially considering the people who are on

Commission. Alan Simpson eg, who calls elderly people 'old geezers' who, he once said, were greedy because they didn't want to give up part of their SS for some Republican policy or another. He also refers to working Americans as 'the lesser people'. He reveals his sense of superiority. They believe they are better than the American people. So to their way of thinking, the SS fund should be in the hands of their buddies on Wall St. to gamble with. Letting it go to the people who paid into it, is just a crime, as far as these Republicans are concerned.

They have zero concept of the struggle many of the elderly have just to provide themselves with food, nor do they care.

I don't know why these people are on this Commission. They are known enemies of SS and care nothing for the poor, the disabled or the elderly. To Simpson's way of thinking, if you can't afford to eat when you're old, it's your own fault. 'Let them eat cat food'.

[1776Forever]

46. Bravo - You hit the bull's eye! And of course there's Mr. Peterson who is the leader of the pack...

Billionaire Pete Peterson's Quest to 'Reform' Social Security: Follow the (His) Money
Category: Bidness • Conservatives • Social Security
Posted on: March 29, 2010 9:53 AM, by Mike

http://scienceblogs.com/mikethemadbiologist/2010/03/billionaire_pete_petersons_que.php

...One of the key figures and bankrollers in that attempt is financier Peter Peterson. By key, I mean that he has spent around one billion dollars financing the Peterson Foundation, which advocates various 'fiscal responsibility' measures (i.e., making Granny eat cat food) and slashing Social Security benefits*. But as always, one must follow the money, since Peterson's 'charity' seems rather self-interested--and not in the sense of 'healthy children are good for all of us' (italics mine):

...we can get a sense of what is on the table by looking at the earlier agenda of Peterson's Commission on Budget Reform. The Peterson/Walker plan would have slashed social security entitlements at a time when Wall Street has destroyed the home equity and private retirement accounts of potential retirees. Worse, it would have increased the Social Security tax, disguised as a "mandatory savings tax." This added tax would be automatically withdrawn from your paycheck and deposited to a "Guaranteed Retirement Account" managed by the Social Security Administration. Since the savings would be "mandatory," you could not withdraw your money without stiff penalties; and rather than enjoying an earlier retirement paid out of your increased savings, a later retirement date was being called for. In the meantime, your "mandatory savings" would just be fattening the investment pool of the Wall Street bankers managing the funds.

(More at link)

...............

And so it goes...

[sabrina 1]

48. Yes, thanks for the link. The man is a total enemy of

the elderly, the disabled and the poor. What I would like to know is why are these people constantly showing up on these commisssions? Who elected them? And why are there no ordinary people asked to participate? Do you have to be a billionaire now to have any say in this country?

And wasn't Obama supposed to change all this? The same cast of greedy characters seem to show up no matter which party the people elect. I don't know what we can do about it, but it's clear that what we did do, was not the solution after all.

[1776Forever]

60. Sabrina I found your question intriguing and researched more into it - here's what I found...

This Week: Obama’s Deficit Commission – or Pete Peterson’s?
By Roger Hickey
April 24, 2010 - 7:11pm ET

http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2010041624/week-obama-s-deficit-commission-or-pete-peterson-s

On Wednesday Wall Street multibillionaire Peter G. Peterson, who has pledged to spend a billion dollars to panic Americans about deficits in order to get them to slash Social Security and Medicare, is conducting a “Fiscal Summit” in Washington featuring many of the very people who created the deficits Peterson decries.

This summit is designed to stampede President Obama’s new deficit commission (which meets for the first time the day before – on Tuesday) into adopting their version of fiscal austerity.

....Americans looking for jobs and economic recovery are not likely to be persuaded by the bizarre collection of speakers Peterson has assembled.

President Bush's tax cuts for the very wealthy were the first cause of soaring U.S. deficits after Democrats cleaned up the red ink of the Reagan years. So who are Peterson’s headliners?

Alan Greenspan, former Fed Chairman, who famously assured Congress that those deficit-creating tax cuts were OK – and who was recently forced to admit that his conservative blinders prevented him from seeing and acting to avoid the housing bubble and the deficit-creating economic crash that resulted.

Other speakers, like Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), supported the Bush tax cuts. And Peterson himself, who benefited hugely from the Bush tax changes, never seriously protested those irresponsible deficit-creating policies.

Also speaking: Robert Rubin, who as Clinton’s Treasury secretary presided over the deregulation of Wall Street financial giants and then as Citigroup chairman presided over the orgy of speculation and outright fraud (all enabled by his Treasury policies) that brought the financial system crashing down.

(more at link)

...............

I found this very interesting! Take a look at the entire article. Thanks for bringing up the question, I learned a lot from it!

[BuelahWitch]

54. I would say we should start sending Simpson cheap ass cat food

but that sort of an undertaking would be better for our overflowing animal shelters. What about sending him cat turds? I've got plenty!

[unapatriciated]

56. Cat turds is what they deserve but might be illegal

could be considered hazardous waste. It would be cheaper and easier to save and mail them our pet food labels.

[Jim Sagle]

43. It's a defining term, and a poster's reaction to it determine's if s/he is actually a Democrat.

Those who sneer at the term should be tombstoned.

[1776Forever]

45. Jim you and I think alike - I was amazed at some of the reaction I got about it. n/t.

[sabrina 1]

52. Very well put, about the reaction

of people to it ~

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

53. Yep. It's like Phenolphtalein. -nt

[JoeyT]

44. It's short, accurate, and to the point.

Though I've been calling it "The Ramen Noodle Committee" too.
Ramen's cheaper than cat food. It's probably far less healthy too.

[Zhade]

57. It's purrfect.

Sorry for that one.

But it really is the best label you can give it.

[Skittles]

58. it is appropriate

describing fucktards who will obviously protect the rich and target EVERYONE ELSE

[slackmaster]

62. I love cats and wouldn't feed them low-quality food, so the term has never bothered me a bit

MEOW