Ranchers who supported Tea Party shutdown stunned at lack of federal aid.

[geek tragedy]

Get out your hankies. Note that S.D.'s Repuke Congresscritter voted against aid for Hurricane Sandy's victims.

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-dead-cattle-20131012,0,3708892.story?page=1

Yet Washington's shutdown has deprived people here of a traditional safety net: Congress hasn't passed a new farm bill to subsidize agricultural producers, and the lockout means legislators won't be voting on the topic any time soon.

These days, Reder passes a federal Farm Services Administration office whose doors are closed. Like most American ranchers, the 47-year-old is a resilient small businessman used to tending to his own problems, with help from neighbors whose families settled this land generations ago.

Still, he's frustrated and feels that federal lawmakers have turned their backs on the nation's heartland in a time of need.

"We're just a bunch of ranchers from South Dakota — it's hard for our voices to be heard," he said, sitting at the kitchen table at dawn Friday, drinking coffee, fielding calls from fellow cattlemen. "You see crises across the country, the hurricanes and tornadoes, and officials are right on top of it. But something of this magnitude, that has just about leveled this part of the country, and there's nothing."

Many residents in this conservative region had supported the government shutdown as a way to make Washington more fiscally responsible. "But one appropriate role for these guys is to lend a hand after disasters like this," Christen said, "and they're not here."

Karma.

[Arugula Latte]

1. Selfish creeps. "Screw everyone else but give us taxpayer money!"

[geek tragedy]

2. Giant sense of entitlement nt

[Drahthaardogs]

30. If you want to see hubris, go hunt on BLM land out west and watch the ranchers try to kick you off

Claiming you were trespassing on THEIR land. It was great fun. Pulling out your BLM maps made it even more fun. Finally, pulling out your BLM employee card, and telling them that you were calling the BLM Ranger for false imprisonment and anything else he could find to write them up on...THAT was priceless.

[geek tragedy]

31. I'll have to take your word for it, even if armed myself being around those fellows while they

have weapons in their truck, no thanks.

[Heather MC]

56. Times like theses

I just don't care.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

120. totally disconnected

No awareness of context, chains of events or consequences.

Just me and my little tribe.

[liberalhistorian]

123. I live in SD and am unfortunate enough to be represented

by Kristi Noem (aka the Gnome), and this is the general attitude of far too many ranchers and farmers here and it drives me absolutely batshit insane. Fucking selfish, provincial assholes. Any other part of the country is not "real" America, so it doesn't count what happens there. And "those people" are just elite pansy easterners who aren't as "hardy and reliant" as they are, never mind that they've sucked down more in federal farm subsidies than those "elite pansy easterners" will ever earn and those "elite pansy easterners" are the ones paying the gazillions for their goddamned subsidies.

I'm so disgusted with this state and our idiotic rep right now that I'm ready to throw something. Everyone is all up in arms that Mt. Rushmore is closed and demanding that the guv just "stand up to the feds" and remove the closing gates and cones from the entrance. But it costs almost 20 grand per DAY to operate the park, and there is no fucking way in hell that this state would have that much money and be able to ever permanently operate it on its own. And these fucking idiots would be the first to scream and complain about all the state money going to it if they did try to do so.

And Noem is fucking useless, as is our repuke Sen. Thune. She's a Sarah Palin clone who's dumber than a box of bird shit and who bows down to the shrine of the Tea Party every night, and she apparently does not believe that she represents the entire state but only those who completely agree with her on everything and who voted for her. If you don't agree with her on everything and parrot what she wants to hear, she WILL NOT LISTEN to you and WILL NOT RESPOND. Period. It's as if you don't even exist. Of course, naturally, her own family farm has received more than four million in federal farm subsidies over the past two decades. She's the very definition of hypocrisy. The Blue Dog Dem she replaced, Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, may not have always been the perfect Democrat, but she was lightyears better than this stupid idiot we're now stuck with.

[supernova]

127. Whew! Tell us how you really feel!

[Not Sure]

137. Great post

I could fill pages with my complaints about our douchebags from Texas. Of course, everyone already knows douche number one.

[jmowreader]

150. Man, there are a LOT of contenders for that title!

Right now, Douche Number One has GOT to be Erich Cantor. Compared to the shit he's pulling, Gohmert is a mere carbuncle on the elephant's ass.

[Jefferson23]

143. Wow, you have my sympathy..what a horrific mess. n/t

[hatrack]

173. Stephanie Herseth lost to THIS woman?

What the hell happened?

[Enthusiast]

176. +1

[Doctor_J]

216. Call her and bitch about this

[TwilightGardener]

3. As a former resident of that state, all I can do is shrug. Decent people, but not the brightest.

You asked for it, you got it.

[Skittles]

12. decent people have empathy for others

these folk seem to only "get it" when it affects THEM

[Quantess]

155. But how many of them "got it"?

How many of them actually learned that government disaster relief is a necessary thing? And of those who whine that they needed government help because their case was different, how many will make the connection to the larger concept, that we all need government services?

Many (most?) will just go on believing that their case was different.

[Enthusiast]

177. They believe hurricane relief

to be an unnecessary waste of resources.

[Hubert Flottz]

224. At least they don't have dead bodies floating in their streets.

For weeks and days after the storm.

[n2doc]

192. +1 n/t

[dchill]

91. Decent is as decent does.

[Dawson Leery]

4. Farm subsidies are scheduled to end as no new bill has been passed.

[Nay]

188. EXCELLENT. As a former resident of Montana, I have nothing but contempt

for most of the farmers there. Even back in the 80's, they were always crying for more subsidies while grousing about the "welfare queens" who got $50 a month in food stamps.

What did me in completely was a new subsidy that paid farmers NOT to grow wheat, and it was paid per acre taken out of production. The farmer in my tiny town who had the ONLY stand of cottonwood trees for a hundred miles around cut those trees down in order to claim a couple more acres for the subsidy. It was the most disgusting greed I ever saw and I never forgot it.

And just to let you know, almost all of those farmers decamped for Arizona for 5 months in the winter so they didn't have to put up with Montana winters. Nice gig if you can get it.

[Dawson Leery]

200. Indeed it's a nice gig.

Orange man could not muster the votes for any farm bill, including a parred down bill which only
gave out insurance for crop loss (189 billion for ten years).

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/06/20/the-house-farm-bill-unexpectedly-fails-195-234-so-what-happens-next/

[Dawson Leery]

201. The farm bill expired on October 1st.

That had nothing to do with the shutdown.

[NickB79]

220. You can actually look up subsidy payments to farmers by name now

The subsidies they receive from 1995 onward are all in an online database now, so if you know a farmer's name, you can see how much money they've gotten.

http://farm.ewg.org/search.php?fips=00000®ionname=theUnitedStates

My dad and 5 of my 7 uncles are farmers. Between the 6 of them, they received ONE MILLION DOLLARS from the federal government since 1995!

Two of my uncles (the ones driving new trucks, building new houses, sending their kids to expensive colleges and paying for their honeymoons in Hawaii) AVERAGED $20,000 per year in farm subsidies alone. They get more money handed to them by the government than many families make in a year.

These are the same people who'd sit around bitching about "fucking welfare recipients" every Christmas and Thanksgiving.

[NickB79]

237. It appears Mr. Reder has received almost $300K in farm subsidies

Since 1995: http://farm.ewg.org/persondetail.php?custnumber=A07734022

No other Scott Reder's came up when searching South Dakota.

[get the red out]

5. Well....

Dumbass, maybe it is YOU who will get screwed? Or was it not supposed to effect white people?

[Delphinus]

106. Your last question

might be the answer.

[calimary]

109. Yeah, no shit. +1,000,000

Where's that smilie....

[Drum]

6. wtf did they think would happen?

lie down with dogs, get up with fleas....

[msanthrope]

42. Let me tell you what they thought would happen--that it wouldn't affect decent white people.

Seriously....these assholes thought that shutting down government wouldn't affect decent white people because decent white people don't use the government. They are self-sufficient.

It's all the black, brown, and liberal people in the cities getting free cheese and cellphones. Government money needs to be cut off to them. So when you shut down the government, you teach them a lesson.

That is what these assholes thought.

[BrotherIvan]

53. Exactly correct

Feeding a starving child with WIC or educating a poor one is just too much and must be stopped. They are just black/brown/yellow takers. Tribalism of the worst kind.

[SammyWinstonJack]

65. So what are they whining about if 'decent white people don't use the government'?

Aren't they whining about the lack of federal funds not being available to them?


Seem too be pretty darn clueless if that is how they think.

[Blue_Tires]

67. +1000

[theHandpuppet]

69. Yeppers.

Couldn't have stated it better.

[ecstatic]

101. + 1000 nt

Last edited Mon Oct 14, 2013, 08:36 PM - Edit history (1)

[L0oniX]

104. +1 f'kin A n/t

[calimary]

111. Sad but undoubtedly true. These selfish heartless assholes never think about

Golden Rule-type stuff. So full of judgmentalism and resentment that they don't stop to think - what if it's THEM someday?

I have been very saddened and discouraged - every time something like this happens, and you get some "gummnt-hating" dumbasses, like after Hurricane Katrina, who suddenly seemed to wake up and realize - "D'OH!!! Uh, er, um, gee, uh, well, er, (cough!), ummm... well, I guess government actually IS important and necessary and good to have..."

And then, you had more short-sighted, reagan-swallowing dim bulbs piping up after Hurricane Sandy. What happened? DID THEY NOT LEARN FROM HURRICANE KATRINA?????

And every time there's a really horrible tornado in the Midwest somewhere, there are more short-sighted, reagan-swallowing dumbasses who suddenly are rudely awakened about how necessary and important it is to have a functioning federal government. And that makes me wonder DID THEY NOT LEARN FROM HURRICANE KATRINA AND HURRICANE SANDY???? What the fuck is with these idiots? After all, cataclysms this grave usually cross state lines, so it HAS to be the feds. And cataclysms like this are routinely WAY beyond anything a single state can handle, especially if it's hobbled by republi-CONthink.

And it's not just weather-related cataclysms, either. It's just so MADDENING!!!!! Suddenly these dingdongs are abruptly awakened and forced to smell the coffee and they come around - for about 19 or 20 minutes. And then they slide back into their own idiocy since their collective memories are about the length of the average gnat. It's as though they're so stupid they have to be hit across the face with a series of 2x4s before they get it, and we haven't yet reached the point where they've been smacked around enough that they even DO get it. I guarantee you, most of these ranchers who are whining and yowling about the unfairness of it all and "where's the government now that I need it?" - can be counted on to forget whatever eye-opening civics lesson this miserable episode may have momentarily taught them. It's SO damn discouraging!!!!

[tblue37]

139. Well, when you consider how many of them were raging

that they wanted the government to keep its slimy government hands off their Medicare and Social Security,then it's not surprising that they would not see that a government shutdown might include the shutting down of government offices that THEY rely on.

Remember Dick Cheney claiming in the VP debates that he made his fortune with absolutely NO help from the government? Same sort of disconnect.

[fasttense]

169. Yeah Dick the Cheney thinks he pulled himself up by his own boot straps

While dodging the draft and letting other people fight the war.

My husband could have made a fortune too if the government had NOT helped him with the draft to fight in the Vietnam war.

[tblue37]

190. Cheney used his political connections to arrange government contracts

for Halliburton when he was CEO, and of course he got to be CEO because of his political connections.

[Auntie Bush]

140. Wow! I like your attitude and verbiage. You should write for a Dem politician.

Maybe Allen Grayson?

[calimary]

145. He's my hero! Well, one of 'em anyway!

Thanks!

Sometimes I just wanna throw up my hands - I can think of so many things I would LOVE if they said! Not just my ideas either but a lot of progressive and liberal talking points. Some people here are just simply freakin' BRILLIANT in that regard!!!! I get all kinds of ideas from reading the posts here.

I actually went to a state party convention as a volunteer, and I brought a stack of small notes on which I'd written a number of talking points and bumper-sticker points and slogans and stuff that might help. Passed 'em out as much as I could, to anyone who's take 'em. Most people didn't seem that interested, however.

Oh well - we ALL should keep at it!

One good experience, though: during the bush/cheney blight, I called in (as I often do) to various congresscritters' and senators' offices. Not just mine. And equally among my team and the opposition. During one call - to some Democrat's office - I started complaining about the lies that contradicta rice was allowed to spew that I didn't think were being rebutted strongly enough. The young dude who took my call stopped me and said - "contradicta! Oh I LOVE that one! Somebody called that in here the other day! It's GREAT!" And I said "wow - thanks! That was mine. I made that one up!" And then he responded - "that was you? It's just awesome! We LOVE that one! That one's all over the Hill now!"

[freshwest]

121. ^^^THIS^^^

[Auntie Bush]

135. So maybe the shutdown isn't so bad if it teaches those assholes a lesson and

respect for the government. Well, it's a thought anyway....if you want to be an optimist and like your glass half full.

[Sparkly]

160. Yup.

I think you nailed it.

[ejpoeta]

167. the funny thing about that is that the money we 'easterners' pay in taxes

goes to pay for their subsidies while they say how self reliant they are. I always find it hilarious when the states that get more back in tax money than they put in talk about all those takers out there. But not them. OF course not them.

[Enthusiast]

179. +1

[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]

[NewJeffCT]

214. That's always the case

I deserve my government handout - the other guy is a lazy, good for nothing (fill in the blank with racial epithet of your choice)

Rush Limbaugh used to collect unemployment, but he really deserved it, etc. Or, the anti-choice politician's daughter's abortion is really different, so she deserved to get one.

[sakabatou]

152. Agreed

[GentryDixon]

7. I cannot even wrap my head around the hypocrisy of these of the so-called conservatives...

Many residents in this conservative region had supported the government shutdown as a way to make Washington more fiscally responsible. "But one appropriate role for these guys is to lend a hand after disasters like this," Christen said, "and they're not here."

So it's OK to take food out of the mouths of babes, but when my cattle freeze to death, then that is a disaster. Aargh...

[AAO]

45. Love this

"But one appropriate role for these guys is to lend a hand after disasters like this," Christen said, "and they're not here."

EARTH TO MORON: THE GUBMINTS SHUTDOWN!

[Lordquinton]

75. The worst part of this whole thing

is that it really is a disaster, almost 100,000 heads of cattle froze to death overnight. This will affect all of us, and it's not being publicized.

On the other hand, federal aid would just help only them through the year until they can raise another herd, and we'll still be paying top dollar for beef in the next few years.

[Blue Owl]

8. Empty, poorly-considered positions come home to roost, don't they

n/t

[Skittles]

9. see, "they" deserve federal aid, but "those people" do not

f*** them all

[msanthrope]

46. Let's call it what is is, Skittles--see my post # 42...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=3848847

[Skittles]

50. of course it is racism

and I resent being told these rancher folk are "decent" - yeah, they're decent in regard to their own needs - anyone else who does not meet their lily white standards is suspect

[msanthrope]

54. You got that right. nt

[TDale313]

10. Well, that's the thing.

For decades, the right has been feeding people the "government's bad, lazy people get handouts" line... And in theory a lot of people kinda buy that, not really understanding/thinking about all the things government does that they actually like or need.

[geek tragedy]

13. These ranchers (and their neighbor farmers) have been suckling at the federal teat for decades.

They just hate it when they get the treatment they want those with more skin pigmentation to get.

[TDale313]

16. Sadly, you're not wrong.

[noiretextatique]

21. the epitome of stupidity

they are willing to hurt others, but they are foolish enough to believe the ghouls they elect won't hurt THEM.

[avebury]

11. The Tea Party crowd are just totally

clueless about the concept that actions have consequences.

[nxylas]

163. This.

I don't think you can even call it hypocrisy - they simply don't make the connection.

[Dawson Leery]

14. Cattle ranchers can drop dead.

"You see crises across the country, the hurricanes and tornadoes, and officials are right on top of it. But something of this magnitude, that has just about leveled this part of the country, and there's nothing."

You f**king ignorant bastards! People were left homeless after Katrina/Sandy and the floods in Colorado.
1100 people died in New Orleans!


They were worse in magnitude compared to some cattle freezing to death because you did not build the proper facilities.

[Cha]

15. Time they stepped away from

mainlining fooking fox "news" and find out what's really going on. And just who the fuck is helping them when they need it.

Clue.. it ain't the teaorrists!

thanks geek

[elleng]

17. Imagine that!

[Lars39]

18. Oh, my! Their ox got gored.

[geek tragedy]

52. literally! nt

[kestrel91316]

19. Good. Now the truly small, responsible, environmentally friendly organic family farmers

are on a more level playing field with the mega-corporate GMO-growing, pesticide-spraying, dead zone-creating factory farms.

Sounds fair to me.

[libdem4life]

20. Who knew?

[City Lights]

22. The guv'mint ain't so bad when they need something.

Hypocrites.

[TygrBright]

23. *rrrrrrinnng!* "It's for you. Sez their name is Carmen somebody..." n/t

[HooptieWagon]

24. You'd think that for all the money they sent to teahadist candidates....

...that one of those teabaggers would have sent a thankyou gift of a set of bootstraps.
Needless to say, they probably got the same rate of return from all their prayers to Jesus...

[hatrack]

25. Are we learning now, rugged individualist ranchers & GOP voters?

Are we learning?

[truebluegreen]

215. +100 for "rugged individualist ranchers"

Also rugged individualist farmers, rugged individualist mining companies, rugged individualist timber companies...

This is your free-market, America--cherish it!

[sheshe2]

26. Clueless!

[Brigid]

27. This is like Ayn Rand taking Social Security and Medicare.

[Enthusiast]

181. Same thing......nt

[Arkana]

28. Normally I would feel bad, but these shitheads made their bed.

They can sleep in it.

[redstatebluegirl]

29. It is the same in Oklahoma.

A lot of teaparty nuts down here, but if there is a storm, they want their federal money. They don't want President Obama here, he is a Muslim and not one of us, but they want their cash and be quick about it.

i am not downplaying the destruction in May or the loss of life, just pointing out the hipocracy of being against the government but standing with your hand out when things happen. There are tons of uninsured folks down here that found themselves out in the cold in May. They say they could not afford insurance on their homes and cars, but they could afford 2 or 3 cars and a new truck in the driveway. Wouldn't want to make them buy insurance that would be socialism. But giving them government money to rebuild is "the American way".

Sorry, I get frustrated listening to them down here.

[factsarenotfair]

32. Here's a link to the US farm subsidy database:

http://farm.ewg.org/

The hypocrisy is light years beyond unbelievable.

[Politicalboi]

33. There's that old saying in Tennessee and Texas

"Fool me once shame, shame on you, fool me again, we won't get fooled again!" You assholes got fooled AGAIN!

Even I misquoted the "genius"

[AAO]

55. You misunderestimated yourself!

[Uncle Joe]

34. Ranchers in other states best take heed of this lesson. Support the Tea Party/Rabid Republicans bent

on demonizing the good works of "We the People" and at some point it will come home to you.

You can't shut government down and then expect it to be there for you when need at the same time.

Pick one or the other but if you choose to dismantle government because in some cases it may benefit people that you don't like or respect then you're actively bringing about Armageddon whether you wish to admit it or not and Armageddon knows no borders.

Thanks for the thread, geek tragedy.

[Ahpook]

78. Yeah, been saying it for years

First They Came....

[Beartracks]

35. They'll just think Obama shut off aid in retaliation for the shutdown, because...

... that's how ignorant they've been made to be as FOX-watchers. Heck -- there are actually Republican Congressmen who think Obama somehow shut down the WWII Memorial to "get back" at ... someone... vets?... they don't really know, but they're certain it was a political decision on his part. Cuz, you know, the President can just shut stuff down like that... #dumb #dumb #dumb

These are poor delusional people in the sticks and the heartland who have been told that The Gubmint has nothing to do with them and visa versa... so a shutdown would just affect bureaucrats.


======================

[Ed Suspicious]

57. This is correct. It's maddening.

[Rebellious Republican]

36. Better be careful GT, I was shot down on a similar post this weekend....

I actually had a post hidden and still do not why. Even though I was being attacked. Check out the RR posts and replies to my posts, you be the judge. Was I the one that was uncivil? But then you do not have the reviled word REPUBLICAN in your pseudonym. Even though I am an old timer here, love that word, it brings out the best in people

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023834942

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12593690

[geek tragedy]

38. Context is everything--having Tea Partiers complain about the lack of a government shutdown

reveals them to be the hypocritical fools they are.

[Rebellious Republican]

39. I guess that was my mistake, I did not realize teapartiers were posting here.

And carried favor with juries and admin.

[IrishAyes]

66. But dear, if you douse yourself with honey, don't complain

when the bees and bears show up. Just sayin', you do kinda make yourself a handy target. Which is your right, but of questionable wisdom or value.

Most respectfully for you as a rare individual, I must say that word does not bring out the best in anyone on either side. It's pure anathema. I like a lot of your posts despite your username, but once again: I disagree as to its wisdom. I totally disagree about its value in elevating anyone.

[Rebellious Republican]

73. Thanks, I have been dealing with the bees and bears for many years.

you got me, I had to look that ten dollar word up http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anathema . Sorry you feel this way "I disagree as to its wisdom. I totally disagree about its value in elevating anyone."

Here is a fifty cent term from a poor wretched undereducated sole like myself "Debate" http://www.thefreedictionary.com/debate. If healthy debate is to take place then let it begin here.

Deliberation and debate is the way you stir the soul of our democracy.
Jesse Jackson

It is better to debate a question without settling it than to settle a question without debating it.
Joseph Joubert

When you resort to attacking the messenger and not the message, you have lost the debate.
Addison Whithecomb

I like your prose, you are very astute.

[IrishAyes]

79. Thank you. I respect your intelligence enough to figure you know what you're doing.

Forgive me, but sometimes I remind myself of the Dana Carvey impression of B-Sr. shaking his head and saying, "Wouldn't be prudent..."

I'm not at all against debate, you realize. I'm just against potentially self-defeating behavior, especially by one who's generally correct. I want to win. I want YOU to win. If a favorite game or mistaken notion stands in the way, I say deep six the damn thing before it sinks you or at least stands in your way.

[Rebellious Republican]

83. Just for you....

Thanks IA, complement and advice well taken.

[IrishAyes]

88. Thanks again.

I must confess that my favorite SNL skit by Dana was the one where he went hunting with his most infamous son, who argued with him about charging full steam ahead, guns ablaze. As junior went ahead anyway, Dana/Daddy sat down on a log (if I remember correctly) and openly considered shooting his own son for the world's benefit. But he kept shaking his head, noting that Barbara wouldn't like it, and "It wouldn't be prudent... No, it wouldn't be prudent..."

[Enthusiast]

185. That was a good one.......nt

[Skittles]

226. the rooster came home to rest

[hue]

37. What goes around-- comes around! Bite ya' cowboys in the a$$!!

[Rebellious Republican]

41. +1

[zatoichiicc]

40. Hoisted on their own petard

They thought the Congress made extremely dysfunctional was for other people.

Now they know. They are also other people.

[appleannie1]

43. It really is sad that the cattle are dying that way but, how can they expect help from a government

that is shut down? If they don't like that no one came to help them, complain to their congress critter (that they voted for) who voted for the shut down. He helped to create the problem and therefore is partly responsible. Besides, I would bet that most of you cheered him on. Ye reap what ye sow.

[Ikonoklast]

44. They must all be 'takers' and 'useless eaters'. Only those type of people whine about their handouts

being taken away from them, from what the representatives these assholes they repeatedly voted for and sent to Washington have said.

No God Fearing Real Murican cries about his government subsidy getting flushed down the shitter, those Rugged Individualists don't heed no damn gubbamint messing with their lives, right?

Never knew your Teabagging representative was talking about their own constituents as government teat-suckers now, did you dumbass?

[maui902]

47. This story just one illustration of the difference between liberal and conservative philosophies

Although a generalization, the basic policy that underpins conservative policy is that each person should be accountable for his or her own success and failure. Also a generalization, the basic policy that underpins liberal policy is that everyone shares the burden so that each of us is protected from some unanticipated misfortune. Of course, when a conservative feels he or she is a victim of some unanticipated misfortune (like a devastating early snowstorm for which most affected residents were unprepared), he or she suddenly adopts the liberal philosophy that everyone should share the burden of his or her individual misfortune. Of course, when it's someone else's cattle that suffers (to use a metaphor), that's their own damn problem.

[Enthusiast]

186. Yup.

[Turbineguy]

48. I don't think they understood.

The Tea Party always said they were going after "those shiftless unemployed moochers and welfare queens". Hard working ranchers who needed the occasional hand-up were not placed on the "people we're going to fuck" list.

My friend used to always say "That's what you get when you sign up with the communist party!" In this case, the tea party.

[Blue Idaho]

49. Just exactly WTF...

Did they think "the government" was?

"Shut the fucker down and keep your commie hands off my farm subsidies..." <--- Dumbshits.

[awoke_in_2003]

51. Beware what you ask for...

you just might get it. Asshats.

[Tarheel_Dem]

58. "Karma" indeed. nt

[Ruby the Liberal]

59. But this wasn't supposed to happen to white job "creators"

Shutting down government was only for the takers.

[munster69]

60. I don't agree with their politics but they are hard working, decent people

I wouldn't wish this on my worse enemy. well, maybe Rush Limbaugh, Rand Paul, that Canadian Senator, but thats it!

I hope they learned from their T-bagging mistake.

[Arugula Latte]

68. They're not all decent people. A lot of them are selfish, ignorant hypocrites.

Many of them prop up the extremist rightwing agenda. Just because they live on farms or ranches doesn't automatically give them status as good, decent people.

[geek tragedy]

72. They're all in favor of letting small children go hungry (big supporters of SNAP cuts)

so not so sure about the decency.

The very reason that SNAP and the farm bill have traditionally been considered together is to get farm state pols and urban pols working together.

[susanr516]

94. They don't get one second of sympathy from me

They worship at the altar of "personal responsibility." They are opposed to TANF, SNAP, and WIC benefits because "you shouldn't have kids you can't afford." Yet, they're opposed to abortion. Their answer to unplanned pregnancy? "If you can't afford a baby, you shouldn't have sex."

Were there no weather reports? Did they not know a snowstorm was coming? They should take "personal responsibility" for their situations. After all, they CHOSE to raise more head of cattle than they could protect. Why should I have to pay for their "lack of responsibility?" They're businessmen, surely they knew something like this was possible. For Gawd's sake, it's October in SD--it's not like it's never snowed there at this time of year before!

Adding this, to make sure you understand:

Sorry, but these ranchers (and other Teabaggers) have been demanding that other people take "responsibility" for years. As far as I'm concerned, it's WAY past time they got their words thrown right back in their faces. I also believe they should get federal aid to help compensate for some of their losses, and I don't mind some of my tax dollars going to them, not because I feel anything for them, but because it's the right thing to do.

[distantearlywarning]

195. +1000 to this

If it were some other group of people, some of "those people", I bet these ranchers would give a speech that was exactly like your sarcasm here, except they would mean it. IMO, what's good for the goose is good for the gander. If you preach "personal responsibility" blah blah blah for others, better be prepared to be "personally responsible" for yourself when the world falls on you.

[distantearlywarning]

95. Hard working, decent nitwits.

I doubt they learned jack shit.

[valerief]

131. Teabaggers are not decent people. They're moron anarchists. nt

[meanit]

133. Sure, they may be hard working "decent people",

but so are we. When they fall on hard times, they get federal aid on top of their millions in farm subsidies. When we fall on hard times, we get effing food stamps and then our faces are stomped into the dirt while being told we are bums.

Sorry, but fuck them.

[hatrack]

172. Actions. Have. Consequences.

They may be hard-working, decent people, they may be lazy assholes, but that is immaterial at this point.

These are the policies they voted for, embodied by the candidates they voted for, candidates who believe in gridlock, dysfunction, magical thinking, brutal social Darwinism, and flag-waving bullshit.

They voted for people who believe that government is evil, and who believe that the world consists of the virtuous (themselves and those like them) and everyone else (who deserve whatever they get, and who just need to grab those bootstraps, whatever the complexities of their circumstances).

These are the results.

[IronLionZion]

184. Exactly, we would be no better than they are

I don't want to cheer bad things happening to anyone for any reason no matter how much we think they deserve it. The fastest way a Republican starts to vote for Democrats is after losing his job. I hope they learn from this. And I don't want them to learn that Democrats are vindictive hate-filled people seeking to punish them.

[Enthusiast]

187. They learned nothing....nt

[Dawson Leery]

206. They are far from decent.

The same people who decried aid to the homeless from Sandy and Katrina, now want aid for themselves.
F**k them! Eliminate all farm subsidies.

[Dash87]

211. Heartless responses here, really.

"Let them eat cake so that they learn their lesson!" - isn't that what the tea party is saying right now?

I hope government aid gets there soon.

[Progressive dog]

61. No sympathy for the t-baggers here nt

[obxhead]

62. Always supports himself without the government, yet knows the FSA was locked up and closed.

Yeah, I've heard that story before.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

63. Agreed, Karma. Reap what you sow. nt

[tanyev]

64. They really have a problem with that whole action/consequences equation.

[TeeYiYi]

70. Wow. Mind boggling ignorance.

TYY

[Warpy]

71. What the FUCK did those idiots expect?

THIS is the kind of government they want for all of us--one that does nothing for the people of this country in an emergency of any kind.

And worse...

[azurnoir]

74. so it comes as a shock when they realize

shutdown means them too

[ellie]

76. These people are so fucking stupid

I have no compassion for any of them.

[durablend]

77. What happened to 'personal responsibility' ???? n/t

[PDJane]

80. What in hell happened to the ability to predict the results of one's actions?

It's not stupidity, precisely, it's just the inability to see beyond the short term to predict what kind of result is going to ensue from actions taken now.

If you shut down the government over a hissy fit about fiscal responsibility, then you have to be aware that government is not going to be there for you, either. If the country needs several trillion in infrastructure, you need to understand that those projects have to be paid for, and raising taxes on those who can pay them is the way to go.

That whole consequences thing seems to be missing.

[Downtown Hound]

81. These assholes make me kind of wish the shutdown would continue for awhile

I'm so sick of fucking morons who hate the government and liberal programs and then whine when they're not there.

[JI7]

82. racist

[Rex]

84. Life really sucks, don't it?

We pay for the choices we make in life so Reder if you find yourself assout of a lifesytle, REMEMBER you only have yourself and your dumbass worldview to blame.

[eilen]

85. Shutdown means shutdown. Not everything but the parts that pertain to you. nt

[HereSince1628]

86. We are "In This Together" or we aren't...the ambivalence of Dakotans is NOT helpful

to their own cause.

[Shampoobra]

87. On the "karma" comments, I respectfully disagree. I think a better word is

"consequences."

They were ignorant as to the full consequences of their actions. They acted anyway, and are now experiencing negative consequences. Hopefully, they're smart enough to learn from their mistakes, and won't make the mistake of trusting in any tea party nonsense in the future.

Life is not a damn tea party, boys. It's harder than that.

[DUgosh]

89. Same folk screaming about food stamp recipients

Are the biggest receivers of farm subsidies in our right wing Texas county

[Ikonoklast]

142. They truly do no understand that SNAP is a back-door farm subsidy. The demand created by SNAP

recipients as consumers of food products helps keep commodity prices high.

Kill the demand for food from 35 MILLION Americans in this country, see what commodity prices do the next day.

"Plummet catastrophically" is the phrase that immediately comes to mind.

[leanforward]

90. The greater good.

Years ago I learned to cast my vote for the party of the greater good. Obviously, the ranchers think a few dollars here and there to feed people is terrible. I listen and read, it would seem that any analytical entrepreneur rancher realizes that voting for the greater good is also to his benefit. Now they're having to bury their vote (cattle) and dollars. The cost of voting for a few cents compared to a massive business loss to the individual or a family going hungary. The rancher is a business and passes his loss to the federal government, while the poor pass their hunger to . . . .

[Thucydides]

92. I just kicked and recommended this thread, I read a lot and post little......

this subject is something that makes me think about my nation. Kind of not sure what to say. So I will just keep reading.

[IkeRepublican]

93. Make Washington More Fiscally Responsible

Code for, "We don't like democrats, especially in the white house."

Because, had Mittens been elected president, these folks would be elated irrelevant of their concerns or whether they're voices are "being heard".

You know it's true.

[Enthusiast]

189. Recent history shows that they aren't the least concerned

about fiscal responsibility when they are in the White House. It is just a right wing meme perpetuated by a dishonest corporate controlled media. Look at the Bush Administration's tax cuts + two wars for example.

In their world Republicans are allowed to govern, Democrats, not so much.

[IdaBriggs]

96. So they don't believe in climate change, and they are good with the Tea Party.

Not a lot to say, is there?

Sympathy to them - sorry they elected morons who are ruining this country.

We feel their pain.

[ProSense]

97. Farmers affected by government shutdown (Republican Senators plead for help)

Farmers affected by government shutdown

Politicians who portray themselves as the farmer’s friend are doing the nation’s food producers no favors with the present government shutdown.

Here’s a partial list of how farmers have been affected by the government impasse, according to a recent list in FarmWeek:

–Farm Service Agency offices are closed.

–Rural development programs are on hold. No loans will be issued and projects under construction will be delayed.

–U.S. Department of Agriculture statistical reports have been suspended.

–USDA meat and poultry inspectors will continue working but must wait to be paid.

–Enrollment in conservation programs has been halted.

“Congress has yet again failed its most basic duty: to debate and pass legislation and, frankly, we’ve run out of ways to say we’re disappointed,” said Danny Murphy, president of the St. Louis-based American Soybean Association, referring to the failure of legislators to pass a farm bill as well as the suspension of farm programs due to the shutdown.

- more -

http://blogs.pjstar.com/mindingbiz/2013/10/08/farmers-affected-by-government-shutdown/

Johanns issues statement on Nebraska severe weather

U.S. Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.), today issued the following statement on the impact of last week's severe weather in Nebraska:

<...>

"I'm also concerned about reports of significant cattle loss among ranchers. Although important livestock programs expired last week, I'm hopeful they'll be restored through the farm bill and I encourage producers who experienced cattle loss to maintain good record and document their losses. Both the Senate and House-passed farm bills authorize these critical programs, which is yet another reason it's important to move swiftly to finalize a bill in conference and get it to the President for signature."

The Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) and other livestock programs are designed to help producers manage risk and shield them from the effects of significant loss. Both the Senate and House-passed versions of the farm bill include provisions to reauthorize and fund these programs. Last week, the Senate named farm bill conferees tasked with working with House conferees in merging the two bills into one piece of legislation. It must then be passed by both chambers and signed by the President.

http://www.kotanow.com/story/23639240/johanns-issues-statement-on-nebraska-severe-weather

Thune Asks Vilsack To Help With Livestock Losses

WASHINGTON D.C. -
South Dakota Senator John Thune is asking Speaker of the House John Boehner and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to help South Dakota ranchers who suffered livestock losses during the weekend snow storm.

Thune sent a letter to Vilsack Tuesday asking him to open Farm Service Agency offices in the impacted western South Dakota counties so employees can help tally and assess the losses from the storm. FSA offices are closed right now because of the ongoing government shutdown.

Thune also sent a letter to Speaker Boehner asking him to appoint Farm Bill conferees so the House and Senate can start hammering out the details of the legislation as soon as possible. Both the House and Senate have passed versions of the Farm Bill that include livestock disaster programs; however the programs are not in place because both chambers have failed to come to an agreement on a new Farm Bill. The old one expired October 1.

“We need to be doing everything we can to help the livestock producers whose livelihoods have been endangered by this storm,” Thune said in a statement Tuesday.

- more -

http://www.keloland.com/newsdetail.cfm/thune-asks-vilsack-to-help-with-livestock-losses-/?id=154285

Food bank sending trucks to feed furloughed Grand Canyon workers
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023807835


http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017147274

[cvoogt]

98. Govt finally got out of their lives

Think they'll change their tune?

[muntrv]

99. Lay down with the dogs, you get fleas.

[Wait Wut]

100. Y'know what really sucks?

I do feel bad for them. Yes, they were (for the most part) idiots that supported the shutdown and the teapers. But, I've known farmers in my life and they aren't all that involved in national politics. Local, yes. But, they only know what's right in front of them. They're simple. They work hard. They believe in a God. They don't think school is as important as blood, sweat and tears.

And they've just gotten one of the hardest lessons of their lives. Who knows, maybe next time they hear of a hurricane in a 'black' state, or an earthquake in a 'liberal' state, they'll be a little more sympathetic. Probably not. But there is a little bit of hope.

I don't wish them the pain they're going through. They've seen a lot of pain over the years, already. Some of them could lose their farms/ranches.

DISCLAIMER: Not all farmers...by far...are RWNJs. I've also known some damned far left ones. They aren't normally the generational types, though.

[petronius]

103. Well said, and I agree. Whether or not they learn from it, and whatever their politics,

this is exactly the sort of disaster that government should be able to respond to. Too bad the fuckstain 'baggers in Congress don't understand that, and are willing to shatter people's lives for their own political gaming...

[muntrv]

102. Silly me! I thought these ranchers were rugged individualists who pick themselves up

by the bootstraps!

[cui bono]

105. While I don't wish disaster on anyone in reality, they need to understand their actions

have consequences. Sometimes it takes a lesson from the school of hard knocks to bring it home.

I feel like I'm talking to a child. And that's sad. The people causing this seriously do have arrested development and I'm not talking about the TV series.

[L0oniX]

107. Awww so Rush Limpballz, Bill OLieley, Heck and Boner let them down? Awww

[texanwitch]

108. Poor ranchers.

They wanted fiscally responsible government, they got it.

What is the problem.

I guess this only applies to other people.

[pitbullgirl1965]

112. I feel bad for the cattle. :( They are the biggest losers here.

For their sake, and the land, they shouldn't be raised there. Ha. For the sake of the land, the ranchers shouldn't be there. How much of their land was part of the Homestead Act?

FYI The Little House on the Prairie books are deconstructed in this excellent article. Also: Laura Ingalls Wilders daughter Rose Lane Wilder helped found the Libertarian Party. Her protégé Roger MacBride, ran on the 76 libertarian ticket for president.

Oh her and her father were major TeaTurd types! Funny how they never considered turned down the 160 acres from the Homestead Act since they hated the federal government so much! Terrible family.



http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly/23/

[Curmudgeoness]

113. Maybe they will actually THINK next time they vote. nt

[pitbullgirl1965]

114. This part is sad,

"These aren't just inanimate objects. I personally know each and every one of these animals," said Reder, a tall rangy man in a well-worn cowboy hat. "I bottle-fed most of them as calves."
many dairy farmers feel the same way about their animals. I feel for him on that level.

A spot on comment on the link

NotImpressed3 at 5:17 PM October 14, 2013
South Dakota's Congressional representative, Kristi Noem, voted NO on the Sandy Relief package for NY/NJ/CT and so did 178 other republicans. That disaster left thousands of PEOPLE without heat, water or electric for weeks and months. Nary a mention in the SD press about her vote. Nothing about how Americans pull together in times of crisis - just a lot of blowhards here moaning about their tax dollars being spent to help fellow Americans in need. Thirty years of far right screeching about the moochers/sluts/parasites have brought us to a place where common decency doesn't allow for us to look past our political agendas and see humans in need. I hope my congressional rep will be more sensitive to the economic losses and human toll for those in the affected communities than the rep from SD was when my hometown was hit by the worst storm in 50+ years.

[blkmusclmachine]

115. Let those ranchers pull themselves up by their own damn bootstraps. No Handouts. Let 'em try prayer!

[rwsanders]

116. Reminds me of a lot of the articles I see in Sierra magazine (from the Sierra Club)...

So many of them contain some version of the line "I used to think environmentalists were loonies".
Then they don't understand why their neighbors aren't sympathetic about their environmental issue and they don't get why they feel like they are on their own to fight this big company.

[jpak]

117. Cry me a river douchebags

You made your bed.

Lie in it.

yup

[gulliver]

118. "used to tending to his own problems"

That's the funniest line in the whole piece. He's a hobbyist who gets to live in a country home at the taxpayer's expense.

[Initech]

119. That's like cancelling the Super Bowl and then you're upset because there is no halftime show.

[Renew Deal]

122. Hypocrites

[Aviation Pro]

124. Ya know something....

...you backwater shithole fuck?

Go fuck yourself and your stoicism, you are a fucking leech taking my money to enrich yourself. I have zero tolerance for farmers who rely on government handouts and then turn around and vote for these shitstain ball garglers who then shut down the government.

Try being a small business owner - like me - who has no access to taxpayer dollars and build it yourself.

Again, go fuck yourself.

[GatorOrange]

125. Sweet Glorious Schadenfreude...

Ayn Rand would be so disappointed in you Conservatives! How dare you not pull yourselves up by the bootstraps and rise on your own?

[gopiscrap]

126. Jesus Christ dumb asses the government is not the enemy

your tea baggin nut case Rep. is.

[Kablooie]

128. What do you bet that they will blame Obama for all their problems?

[Doctor_J]

129. Too stupid to survive. I guess Rush didn't tell them about this part.

These fucking people are insufferable morons who don't deserve to be a part of this country.

[valerief]

130. What, did you lose your bootstraps, Mr. Bagger? nt

[blue-wave]

132. Well Boo-Hoo

Are we supposed to cry them a river? They've been voting for the repuks for decades, maybe now they will finally realize that THEIR interests and the interests of the WHOLE country are not represented by the modern day repuks. Change some of those rancher states to blue and with congressional majorities the likes that FDR had to work with, our President and congressional dems will get this get this country back on track for ALL Americans.

[RagAss]

134. Fuck em !

[greatlaurel]

136. My sister and brother-in-law farm

It is unbelievably difficult. They pride themselves on the care of their land and animals. The farm economy throughout the US has been in a state of depression since the Reagan administration. My brother-in-law told me last year during the election that the Obama administration had turned the farm economy around. He would laugh about the farming community being so anti Obama while benefiting tremendously from his farm policies.

Rural communities have really been heavily targeted by the far right wing. They are a core group that continue to vote against their best interests. In my state, the GOP has actively targeted rural areas by failure to fund decent public education since the 1960's, which further depresses the rural economy and then turns into a vicious cycle of economic degradation. A lot of this was driven by business interests wanting to drive down wages in rural communities. The use of social issues and race have been key to maintaining the GOP control. It is really depressing.

[dflprincess]

141. My mom and dad grew up in farming communities - during the Depression no less

and they never understood how those areas could be so Republican.

My mom's sister married a man whose family farmed in that area (though he did not) about 11 years ago we were sitting around my aunt's table and Mom's younger brother was bitching about Democrats and Wellstone in particular (and taking his life in his hands doing it at that table but he was mostly trying to get a rise out of me - we never understood how he went bad) when my other uncle (auntie's husband) who never talked politics finally said "I've always voted DFL and I always will because my dad told me he would have lost the farm if not for Franklin Roosevelt. I don't know how anyone who grew up here can be a Republican." And that shut up the other uncle.

[LibGranny]

138. k&r

[Pretzel_Warrior]

144. Boo-fuckin-boo!!! Assholes

[OldRedneck]

146. Piss on 'em

You bought it, you own it.

[mrsadm]

147. Well, cry me a river!

[William769]

148. Kick & recommended.

[AnnieBW]

149. You Get The Representatives You Vote For

Yeah, I'm not surprised. People like that are the first ones looking for government money when there's a disaster, but other than that, they hate the government.

[greatlaurel]

151. Rural areas are inundated with right wing media.

While I agree that these people should wake the heck up about who they vote for, where are they going to get information? They are inundated with right wing hate radio and all the TV stations are pretty much owned by right wingers now. For the last 40 years rural media, including the few newspapers, has been the haven of the right wing hate machine and right wing religious radio. Progressives have no media outreach into these areas.

Ohio State University sold their AM radio station which reached a large portion of the rural areas of the state. It is now run by the Catholic church and spews really disgusting right wing religious garbage. One day I was driving in a very rural area and the only station that would come in was another one of those crazed religious stations. The topic of the day was how the devil disguises himself as a black dog! I could not believe the phone calls with people discussing their experiences with black "devil" dogs. It was fascinating and extremely disturbing. I was talking with someone who does animal rescues and was told that they have a terrible problem with getting black dogs adopted in our rural area as well as terrible abuse, because of this crazy myth.

[Enthusiast]

193. Two things.

The Fairness Doctrine and the Telecommunications Act.

The right knew exactly what they were doing. If you control the entire media you control the government and the people. And they do. The ol' Nazi-Soviet playbook.

Someone right here on DU was arguing that NPR was still balanced. Uh, no. When a rightie gets on NPR and makes an audacious claim and there is no one their to challenge this Limbaugh like assertion, it is unbalanced.

[Boudica the Lyoness]

153. We farm and have cattle

I feel bad for their loss..I love cattle...BUT the ones who are against 'other' people getting help when they need it, are right bastards.

A few months ago, my son got into it with our republican neighbors about farm subsidies. These particular people get millions of dollars in farm subsidies. They are wealthy. What they said was priceless and we got it in writing no less. They immediately said, upon finding out their handout was on the internet, it wasn't fair because what people get on welfare isn't public info. They KNOW it's welfare!!! lol. Then they said their money goes right back into the community. Completely ignoring the fact they sent their children to private schools in another county and they don't even shop locally etc etc.

Bloody hypocrites!

[OmahaBlueDog]

154. Maybe I'm a bleeding heart, but I feel they deserve our help

Kristi Noem was rotten to vote against Sandy relief.

Two wrongs don't make a right. That's how I was raised, anyway.

These are ranchers who have been wiped out by a weather event. Maybe the ranchers did vote for Noem, but their kids aren't responsible for that; their ranch hands aren't responsible for that.

Model good behavior. Show compassion to those who didn't necessarily show compassion. It isn't easy, but it is the right thing to do.

[Quantess]

158. Of course we should help them out, but the government is shut down.

Neither you nor I wished this on anyone, but the government is shut down. What do you suggest we do? Speak about the ranchers in nicer way? I'm sure that will go far.

[OmahaBlueDog]

171. I see the irony, but threads that seem to revel in their misfortune don't speak well of DU

Last edited Tue Oct 15, 2013, 05:28 PM - Edit history (1)

Hopefully, events like this will demonstrate to everyone that the Federal government shutdown is more than just closing some museums and monuments.

[Enthusiast]

194. Yeah, the meek shall inherit the earth.

They will get six feet of it shoved in their face.

[OmahaBlueDog]

228. I bet a lot of Dr. King's marchers wanted nothing less than a Thompson submachine gun...

...when the fire hoses and batons came out. I imagine non-violence seemed like a pretty stupid concept at that point. But it ultimately did more than fighting and burning the nation to the ground did.

[questionseverything]

225. well said

we need to be reaching out and encouraging them to join us....i hope no one sitting on the fence reads this thread

[Historic NY]

156. Well, "G-o-l-l-y", "Sur-prise, sur-prise, sur-prise!

dumb a$$ jackwagons didn't they tell you shutdowns have consequences.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

157. "Like most American ranchers, the 47-year-old is a resilient small businessman used to ...

tending to his own problems, with help from neighbors whose families settled this land generations ago. "

Um, seriously? If he's used to tending to his own problems with just a little help from neighbors, where did those government subsidies come in?

[KansDem]

165. Aren't these the same folks who belittled Katrina victims?

I seem to recall a comparison being made between Katrina victims and our hearty Americans of the northern plains states after a huge snowstorm had hit a couple of years ago.

Many smug comments about how these hearty Americans dug themselves out and helped each other, not relying on the government like Katrina victims did.

Yeah, apparently no one told them about the difference between a house covered with snow and a house covered with water...

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

230. Of course. Seems to me these are also the same people who wanted the damn Government to

stop interfering with the dust storms.

[yellowdogdemocrat1]

159. Farmer Subsidies

Almost every farmer I know is a millionaire and gets farm subsidies. And most of the people around this area are rapid Teabaggers. This is in Nebraska where Fox News is on constantly, and people listen to Glen Beck.

Most of the people are okay until they start with the politics. But there is a double standard, it's okay if they get help from the government but other people shouldn't. Not all of them are "right in your face", but a few of them can't keep their mouths shut. I can't believe people can be so racist in this day and age.

[merrily]

161. "The nation's heartland?" "In a time of need?"

Gee, I wonder with whom that writer stands?

[Comrade Grumpy]

162. God, this is an ugly display. It's the flip side of the conservatives telling Sandy Hook people....

...to go fly a kite.

it's as if most of this thread thinks every single person in South Dakota is a Tea bagger. And especially every cattle rancher. Quite an amazing display of "liberal" intolerance.

And the kind crap thread to be expected from the OP.

[ejpoeta]

168. look, I think the reason people are expressing this view is that these are the same people

who think anyone else who gets help from the government is somehow a taker. It may not be "everyone" but from other posts it seems these folks voted for the people who helped shut down the government. Now they are seeing the repercussions of that. While I wish that they could get the help they need, you cannot ignore the fact that many of these folks WANTED this. They just didn't know that it would mean they would be personally affected. It doesn't make people the flip side of conservatives, as a majority of these folks voted for this shutdown by electing folks who would shut down the government. One could hope that this would give them more insight as to what they are advocating for when they support certain things. There are always going to be consequences. It's too bad that folks that didn't support this get stuck in the fallout too.

[cordelia]

178. Agreed.

On all points, especially your last sentence.

[JustAnotherGen]

180. Oh well

They've called us godless liberals.
They view us (brown folks - myself included) as less than 'takers' who are all on welfare and drive caddies.
They call us lazy little egg heads.

At some point - you've got to stop turning the other cheek and get damn mad. And retaliate.


The man interviewed in this article is an entitled shitty little snot and I 100% stand with geek_tragedy in his/her sentiments. I'm glad geek posted it - because it is a testament to the quality and extent of sniveling snotty entitlement exists in the heartland of America.

[Nay]

191. Exactly. I don't think it's awful to point out that these idiots have just

been hoist by their own petard. What's really awful is that these entitled snots will get their money somehow, and STILL will bitch when hurricane relief goes to some other state with "takers."

[hatrack]

217. Well, here's how the votes break down, county by county . . .

The brunt of the snowstorm was borne by eight counties, collectively making up about one-quarter of the state.



In the absence of county legends on the NOAA map above, here's a substitute, with the names of each county:



So (from north to south), Harding, Perkins, Butte, Meade, Lawrence (the small one on the left), Pennington (the long, vaguely hatchet-shaped one), Custer and Shannon. Fall River, in the extreme SW corner, didn't get all that much snow, so I'm leaving it out.

So, how did they vote?

Presidential Election, 2012

Butte - 1002 Obama/Biden, 3073 Romney/Ryan
Custer - 1335 Obama/Biden, 3062 Romney/Ryan
Harding - 82 Obama/Biden, 638 Romney/Ryan
Lawrence - 3973 Obama/Biden, 7025 Romney/Ryan
Meade - 2928 Obama/Biden, 7566 Romney/Ryan
Pennington - 15125 Obama/Biden, 28232 Romney/Ryan
Perkins - 319 Obama/Biden, 1205 Romney/Ryan
Shannon - 2937 Obama/Biden, 188 Romney/Ryan

US House of Representatives, 2012
Butte - 3100 Noem (R), 1089 Varilek (D)
Custer - 3068 Noem, 1417 Varilek
Harding - 642 Noem, 90 Varilek
Lawrence - 7075 Noem, 4204 Varilek
Meade - 7692 Noem, 3028 Varilek
Pennington - 28418 Noem, 15516 Varilek
Perkins - 1197 Noem, 369 Varilek
Shannon - 504 Noem, 2599 Varilek

http://sdsos.gov/content/html/elections/electvoterpdfs/2012/GeneralElectionDocs/2012generalelectionstatewidecandidatesbycounty.pdf

IOW, 13 out of every twenty ballots cast in the region for either Democrats or Republicans went to a ticket featuring the "intellectual father" of austerity in the form of Paul Ryan, or a House candidate who ran on a platform of working even harder to repeal Obama care. On edit - and that's including Shannon, an overwhelmingly Democratic county for decades.

[Dawson Leery]

234. Getting aid to Shannon county only while telling the others to f**k off

would be justice.

[nikto]

164. DEAR RANCHERS: Well...

[KansDem]

166. Solution? Work harder!

Get a second job if you have to...

[Doctor_J]

212. Maybe pray too

I hear that helps

[KansDem]

229. Good point!

They have a big sky there (at least next door in Montana) so they'll have bigger gods

Do it!

[Hubert Flottz]

223. They all wear boots.

And they all have bootstraps. That's more than most Americans have.

[KansDem]

227. Good observation!

They're all set to pull!

[Dawson Leery]

233. Pray to St. Ronald of Peoria.

[KrazyinKS]

170. The words that come out of their mouths is stunning!

I know exactly how liberalhistorian feels! I witness this attitude all the time. It is the government that keeps them propped up-but they always want less taxes and less government interference in their lives. It will drive you bat shit crazy. That explains my screen name, these guys are driving me Krazy in Kansas. God almighty. Can you believe it! Yep, I sure can.

[deutsey]

174. Perhaps he should pray to St. Reagan...?

Sorry, couldn't resist the snark.

I think what happened to these people (as with people suffering from catastrophes around the country and the world) is terrible.

It sucks that the government is shut down, but it is. Perhaps people like this guy will see just how much government does in our lives.

Contrary to Reagan saying it as a smarmy punch line, I bet this guy would love to hear someone say: "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help."

[Enthusiast]

175. Hey, Mr. Rancher, some of us feel cutting food stamps is an equal disaster.

You must think you deserve special treatment.

[bread_and_roses]

182. Can this be posted on FB? I want to share it

I have to be on FB because I administer pages there. I almost never post there as myself, but I would really like to share this on my own profile for a few right-wing relatives who've found and "friended" me there - it's just too perfect.

[4_TN_TITANS]

183. Too much of the country hasn't felt enough

pain yet. Not that I wish it on anyone, but people need to know that these childish games in government hurt people (themselves included).

[loyalsister]

196. Not a single ounce of empathy????

I have family in SD and they have been through hell. Lost electricity for days and weren't able to leave their damn houses. I'm no fan of corporate farms. But, there are also small ranches that are going to be affected (one owned by a cousin). This is going to hit their economy hard.

There are also Indian reservations that have been hit hard. I know for a fact that my family did not support the republicans. Is it really so difficult to muster compassion for people who happen to live in a red state?

[geek tragedy]

197. For the innocents, yes sympathy. Those who cheered on a government shutdown thinking

it would only hurt other people? Phuckem.

[magical thyme]

198. Be Careful What You Wish For.

that is all.

[geek tragedy]

199. More tears have been shed over prayers that were answered than those that were not nt

[cordelia]

203. Funny, isn't it? Uses "Karma" in the OP, and gloats

over the misfortune of others.

[magical thyme]

209. I don't think the OP is gloating over the misfortune of others

so much as their surprise that when they shut down the government that meant *they* would not be getting aid, along with the brown babies left to go hungry.

I have measured sympathy for their losses, myself. I'm saddened that they needed to experience such devastation to learn what it really was they have been demanding. I'm not real moved by their concern about thei cattle's suffering.

I'm not convinced that death by hypothermia is worse than death by slaughter. My understanding of hypothermia is that ultimately, cold is replaced by numbness and a desire to sleep, and then you fall asleep. Slaughter means fear, more fear, the possibility of not being stunned unconsious if the stun gun is not perfectly aimed, and then more fear and agony when you are strung upside down by one leg, which process snaps the cannon bone, and then killed. Or of being injured in transport and literally being bulldozed alive across a feedlot (video of which made the rounds a couple years back of a downed cow screaming in fear and agony as she desperately attempted to scramble to her feet and escape the bulldozer shoving her along). And other forms of torture between the range and the final death blow.

[BeyondGeography]

202. Of course, this will just make them conservativer

[raging moderate]

204. Dear ranchers: NOW will you call your GOP congressmen and order them to OPEN our government?

Last edited Wed Oct 16, 2013, 11:35 AM - Edit history (1)

That's our magnificent federal government of the people, by the people, and for the people. All of the people, all of the time, in all of our great country.

If crises had hit those other places at this time, then they would be the ones suffering because the federal disaster response right now is nothing. I ask you, ranchers, be honest with yourselves, would you then be smirking and pretending to yourselves that you are just somehow better than other people? You have been tricked, hypnotized, and deceived by the extreme right wing. These right-wing Republicon thinktanks are OWNED by extremist neo-feudalist billionaires, and they are USING YOU. Wake up from your trance.

Of course it is only right that you ranchers should receive help in your time of need. As it is right that others should receive help in their time of need.

Now, use your influence. God knows we Democrats have tried and tried to talk to your representatives, but they won't listen to us. If your representatives tell you they agree with you but are too overwhelmed to act, then tell them to GROW SOME GUTS! Make them open the government, and the government will go into action helping you!

[Bohemianwriter]

205. Oh...The IRONY!

The same shitheads cheering for the shutdown are the same ones bitching about their govt. handouts, blaming someone else for something THEY wanted...

How to make a joke or a pun out of this?

[Ganja Ninja]

207. They are getting exactly what they asked for.

Maybe next time they'll think before they open their pie holes but I doubt they have any comprehension they did this to themselves. "It's all Obama's fault!"

[SummerSnow]

208. Oh my...

[DissidentVoice]

210. Surprise!

These "conservatives" you've given your support to for so long, the ones who have got your vote on the basis of "God, Guns, Guts and the Flag," really don't give a damn about you.

[Nac Mac Feegle]

213. To quote Shakespeare

"And the engineer is hoist on his own petard."

[Doc Holliday]

218. While I take no joy

from the suffering of innocents, there is a certain guilty pleasure at watching assholes get their comeuppance.

I guess I'm not a very nice person.

[okieinpain]

219. does their thinking even make sense.

"Many residents in this conservative region had supported the government shutdown as a way to make Washington more fiscally responsible. "But one appropriate role for these guys is to lend a hand after disasters like this," Christen said, "and they're not here." "

what kind of thinking is that. oh my god and they talk about people from the ghetto.

[zbdent]

221. "lend a hand after disasters like this," Christen said, "and they're not here."

Aren't these the types who constantly say how they don't need no steenkin' help from the government, they're the ones pulling themselves up by their own bootstraps?

(Oh, btw ... you can't shovel flood water out of your home like you can shovel 5 feet of snow out of your driveway ...)

[Hubert Flottz]

222. Let them eat beef!

It's already frozen!

[broadcaster75201]

231. Fuck 'em nt

nt

[southern_belle]

232. lol

Just wow!

[rpannier]

235. They need to work harder, find market solutions to their problems

Stop mooching off us hard working types
They should have saved for a rainy day

[Ash_F]

236. I wonder what kind of personal income these ranchers enjoy

Last edited Wed Oct 16, 2013, 08:37 AM - Edit history (1)

"Reder's losses are steep. Out of 750 head of cattle he grazed across 40,000 acres, 200 are dead and others are missing. He lost 100 of the 450 calves he had planned to market this month. He says he's already lost between $250,000 and $300,000 and expects the losses will grow."

If one is working with those kinds of numbers, I imagine that personal profits would be pretty nice. Not to begrudge their hard work, but I am sure these folks have lived a lot more comfortably than the far more numerous $2.35-7.75 per hour shift workers who also need this country's support.

[durablend]

238. You reap what you sow

Maybe we can take up a collection to buy them a case of Kleenex.

[samsingh]

239. more repug stupidity