Congressional Scrooge – Budget Cuts Got Fatter Care for Children Slimmer

‘Twas the day after Christmas and all through the

[Senate and] House.
Not a creature was stirring. Not even a mouse.
We knew it was coming.

Once again promises of salvation would deliver a louse.

The cut stockings were all hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that Unemployment benefits soon would be there.

On shoppers.
On sales.
On stockholders we hail.
More hunger.
Less slumber for those whose net worth would barely fit in a pail.

No Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
Children won’t care.
And their parents won’t dare!

Low wages and long soup lines
…The faces of the children only look at us and stare.
And why should we care?

“Damn lazy-layabouts.”
More cuts, chops, and clips; we call them by name.
Now Social Security.
Now Medicare. That socialist brew.
On Head Start.. On Science, and on Obama Care too!
To the top of the porch, to the top of the wall…Now chop away. Chop away, all!

The job creators won’t mind.
After all cuts are just fine.
Tis the season and this is what is meant to be kind.
Brother, can you spare me a dime?

A little deression and we will do just fine!

It is the holiday time.
Congress, the White House, or Saint Nicholas are sublime.

With a million and a half people losing their unemployment benefits, there’ll be tough times ahead for all you “moochers.” But don’t worry, Rand Paul and crew are just trying to help you, we promise.

The poor and unemployed are just too comfortable and need to have meager help from the government taken away— which will magically help them get jobs! Never mind that there are three times as many job seekers as job openings. The poor just need to buck up, pull themselves up by their bootstraps and pop on a helpful tri-cornered hat! Oh, and if you’re on food stamps, be prepared to pee in a cup in order to get your $1.40 per meal.

Forgetting about the Congressional heartlessness, I hope you all have a great holiday season. Comment, share and find more links to news stories behind this cartoon on my web site. Ho! Ho! Ho!

Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist Mark Fiore whom The Wall Street Journal has called “the undisputed guru of the form” — creates animated political cartoons in San Francisco. You can see more of his work at MarkFiore.com.

• Cutting Back Unemployment Benefits. The New York Times. December 27, 2013
• More Hunger for the Poorest Americans. The New York times. December 25, 2013
• Why Corporations Might Not Mind Moderate Depression. By Paul Krugman. The New York Times. December 25, 2013
• What Happens to Families’ Income and Poverty after Unemployment, By S Zedlewski. Urban Institute. May 2012
• Consequences of Growing Up Poor, By Jeanne Brooks-Gunn and Gregory J. Duncan, eds. (New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1997); and Gary W. Evans, American Psychologist 59, no. 2 (2004): 77–92.