Republicans | Always Question Authority

The House Rules Committee passed on an amendment that would have stopped the military from filtering news websites on its bases.

Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., added the change to the Defense Appropriations Bill last week after reading about the Army’s restriction of The Guardian news site at the Presidio of Monterey and other installations.

“This was a decision by the Republican leadership, and the Republican leadership alone,” Grayson said by email Wednesday. “I think it’s unfortunate that the Republican leadership thinks that we need to keep our own soldiers in the dark, and prevent them from reading what every other American can learn about.”

Continue reading . . .

CENSORSHIP: “The Guardian news website blocked at Presidio of Monterey, California” / Phillip Molnar (alwaysquestionauthority.com)
CENSORSHIP: “Restricted Web access to The Guardian is Army wide, officials say” / Phillip Molnar (alwaysquestionauthority.com)
US army, what a fucking joke it is (niqnaq.wordpress.com)
Restricted web access to The Guardian is Armywide, officials say – Monterey County Herald (montereyherald.com)
The Guardian news website blocked at Presidio of Monterey after NSA leaks (mercurynews.com)

Something terrible has happened to the soul of the Republican Party. We’ve gone beyond bad economic doctrine. We’ve even gone beyond selfishness and special interests. At this point we’re talking about a state of mind that takes positive glee in inflicting further suffering on the already miserable.

The occasion for these observations is, as you may have guessed, the monstrous farm bill the House passed last week.

For decades, farm bills have had two major pieces. One piece offers subsidies to farmers; the other offers nutritional aid to Americans in distress, mainly in the form of food stamps (these days officially known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP).

Long ago, when subsidies helped many poor farmers, you could defend the whole package as a form of support for those in need. Over the years, however, the two pieces diverged. Farm subsidies became a fraud-ridden program that mainly benefits corporations and wealthy individuals. Meanwhile food stamps became a crucial part of the social safety net.

So House Republicans voted to maintain farm subsidies — at a higher level than either the Senate or the White House proposed — while completely eliminating food stamps from the bill.

[…]

Now, some enemies of food stamps don’t quote libertarian philosophy; they quote the Bible instead. Representative Stephen Fincher of Tennessee, for example, cited the New Testament: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.” Sure enough, it turns out that Mr. Fincher has personally received millions in farm subsidies.

Read more . . .