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®1»* ^ortlanh (Dbserucr
November 13, 2013
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S
Effective
May 1 ,2 0 1 0
Martin
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AUD A LUMP
OP e o A ix p o R
M O N0PP
T o PülU“lW ê0>/Ê §
e>y TH0R
Ç O O T ^ ÎP A ^ ,
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$45.00
, HO HO HO/ _2
Service
own
A sm all distance/travel charge
m ay be applied
CARPET CLEANING
2 Cleaning Areas or
more $30.00 Each Area
Pre-Spray Traffic Areas
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1 Cleaning Area (only)
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T ough
lûVEISTHe
Aew ER
Includes Pre-Spray Traffic Area
(Hallway Extra)
Stairs (12-16 stairs - With
O ther Services): $25.00
Area/Oriental Rugs:
$25.00 Minimum
Area/Oriental Rugs (Wooly.
$40.00Minimum
Heavily Soiled Area:
Additional $10.00 each area
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UPHOLSTERY
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Throw Pillows (With
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Heartless for
the holidays
S am P izzigati
Scrooge has com e early this
year. H e’s already kicking o u r
T iny Tim s. This holiday sea
son, kids in A m erica’s poorest
fam ilies w ill have less to eat.
N ov. 1 brought $5 billion in
by
new cuts to the n atio n ’s food stam p program ,
now officially know n as the Supplem ental N utri
tion A ssistance Program , o r SN A P.
P oor fam ilies are losing on average 7 p ercent
o f th eir food aid, calculates the C enter on B ud
get and Policy Priorities. A m o th er w ith tw o kids
w ill lose $319 o v er the rest o f the current federal
fiscal year. T he cuts could cost som e fam ilies a
w e ek ’s w orth o f m eals a m onth, says the c h ie f o f
A m erica’s largest food bank.
M ore cuts are loom ing. A H ouse o f R ep re
sentatives m ajority is dem anding an additional
$39 b illion in “ savings.” O hio and o th e r states,
in the m eantim e, are m oving to lim it food stam p
eligibility.
T o d a y ’s h e artlessn ess to w ard A m e ric a ’s
m ost vulnerable actually goes far d e ep e r than
food stam p cuts, as a new E conom ic Policy
Institute report docum ents in rath er chilling
detail.
F o u r states, the report notes, have “ lifted
restrictions on child labor.” In W isconsin, state
law used to lim it school-age kids to five hours o f
w ork a day on school days. T he new law erases
these lim its.
O th e r states are c u ttin g b a c k o n p ro te c
tions fo r lo w -w ag e w o rk ers o f all ages. E a rlie r
th is y ear, M ississip p i a d o p te d a law th a t
b an s c itie s an d c o u n tie s in th e sta te fro m
g iv in g lo cal w o rk e rs e v en u n p a id sic k le av e
rig h ts.
A m e ric a ’s c u rre n t su rg e o f m e an -
sp irite d n e ss, o b serv es G o rd o n L a fe r, th e U n i
v e rs ity o f O re g o n a u th o r o f th e E P I stu d y ,
e ss e n tia lly e ru p te d rig h t a fte r th e 2 0 1 0 e le c
tio n s. In 11 sta te s, th o se e le c tio n s g a v e rig h t
w in g e rs “n ew m o n o p o ly c o n tro l” o v e r th e
g o v e r n o r ’s m a n s io n a n d b o th le g is la tiv e
c h a m b e rs.
L a fe r links this rig h t-w in g electo ral triu m p h
d ire c tly to g ro w in g in e q u a lity . A w id e n in g
in c o m e g ap , he e x p la in s, “h as p ro d u c e d a
c r itic a l m a ss o f e x tre m e ly w e a lth y
b u s in e ssp e o p le , m an y o f w h o m a re p o liti
c a lly c o n s e rv a tiv e ,” an d v a rio u s re c e n t c o u rt
c a se s h a v e g iv e n th e se w e a lth y a g re e n lig h t
to sp en d v irtu a lly u n lim ite d su m s on th e ir
fa v o re d c a n d id a te s.
B u t A m e ric a ’s n ew h e a rtle s s n e s s re fle c ts
m u ch m o re th an th is tu rb o c h a rg e d p o litic a l
p o w e r o f A m e ric a ’s rich. T h e w id er a s o c ie ty ’s
e c o n o m ic d iv id e , as D e m o s th in k ta n k a n a
ly st S ean M cE lw ee o b se rv e s, th e le ss e m p a
th y on th e p a rt o f th e ric h to w a rd th e p o o r. In
a sta rk ly u n e q u al so c ie ty , p e o p le o f a fflu e n c e
“ra re ly b ru sh s h o u ld e rs ” w ith p e o p le o f little
a d v a n ta g e . T h e se ric h d o n ’t see th e p o o r.
T h e y s te re o ty p e th e m in ste a d a s la z y an d
u n w o rth y .
C N N colum nist John S u tter has ju s t brought
us face-to-face w ith this p henom enon, via a
m oving and insightful p ortrait o f A m e ric a ’s
m ost unequal locale, E ast C arroll Parish in L o u i
siana.
In E ast C arroll, the rich live north o f L ake
P rovidence, the p o o r south. T he tw o groups
seldom interact. E ast C a rro ll’s m ost affluent 5
p ercent average $ 6 1 1 ,0 0 0 a year, 9 0 tim es the
$6,800 in co m es the p o o rest fifth o f the parish
average.
“L ooking across L ake P rovidence from the
n o rth ,” w rites Sutter, “can w arp a p e rso n ’s
v isio n .”
O n e e x a m p le o f th is w a rp e d v isio n : E a st
C a r ro ll’s ric h see fo o d sta m p s as an “ e n title
m e n t” th a t ro ts p o o r p e o p le ’s in c e n tiv e to
w o rk . Y e t th e se sa m e ric h a n n u a lly p o c k e t
e n o rm o u sly g e n ero u s farm su b sid ies. In 2 010,
E a st C a r ro ll’s m o st h ig h ly su b sid iz e d farm
o w n e r g ra b b e d $ 6 5 5 ,0 0 0 fro m o n e fe d e ral
su b sid y a lo n e.
T he average fo o d stam p p ayout in the parish:
$ 1,492 p er person p er year.
W hat should w e do about the ram pant in
eq u ality in E ast C arroll Parish — and far be
y o n d ? F o r starters, w e co u ld end federal farm
subsidies fo r w ealthy farm ers — and restore
food stam ps to full strength.
T h e longer-term task? T h at w ould include
ev erything from raising taxes on the n a tio n ’s
m ost privileged to raising m inim um w ag es for
the n a tio n ’s low est-paid w orkers.
In 2013 A m erica, sum s up C N N ’s Sutter,
w e ’ve com e to see stark gaps betw een rich and
p o o r as “in ev itab le.” H is sim ple rem in d er fo r us
all: “T h ey d o n ’t hav e to b e .”
OtherWords columnist Sam Pizzigati is an
Institute fo r Policy Studies associate fellow.