Cynicism By the Likes of Obama

is why he is going to pull his austerity shit, despite a record amount of poverty resulting from a poor economy. He figures the poor have nowhere else to go but support him, and of course, now he's not even up for re-election, so he can do whatever the heck wants.

Use of the new census measurement also showed a significant shift in poverty among the various regions of the country. In the West, 20 percent of households were living in poverty in 2011, compared to 16 percent in the South, the region of the country historically more impoverished. This is undoubtedly largely influenced by factors such as the assault on social programs in California and the collapse of the housing market in Nevada.

The new Census measurement also reveals that Social Security is by far the most important program contributing to a reduction in poverty. According to the SPM, when calculating the effects of benefits and expenses on overall poverty rates in the American population, poverty was reduced by more than 8 percent due to Social Security benefits, while medical expenses increased poverty by about 3.5 percent.

The SNAP food stamp program and unemployment insurance benefits also provide significant protection against poverty. But it is precisely these programs—along with Medicare and Medicaid—that are being targeted for cuts as part of the bipartisan assault on social programs being prepared in the wake of the 2012 elections under the cynical pretext of averting a looming “fiscal cliff.”

The "fiscal cliff" is just another phony baloney crisis pushed by the elites to get the 99 percent to fork over more money after they screwed up the economy big time.