How Democratic Politicians Get Their Votes

(The logo of the Democratic Party)

There are two political parties in the USA - the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. They both suck.

The Republicans are, basically, evil. They support big business and do not care about providing any social services to people who might need them. They don't care about the poor at all and issues of equality are not important to them.

The Democrats are, basically, corrupt (dishonest). Lots of democratic politicians get thrown in jail for various reasons and they provide lots and lots and lots of social services when they have power, and this is how they get votes. They do not do anything to eliminate poverty, they use the poor to stay in office. The poor have to keep voting for them because they desperately need the services the Democrats are giving them. Free housing, free food, free medical care etc. 

New York State has a governor (leader) who loves, loves, loves, loves using NY State and US tax dollars to give away free stuff to poor folks. 

As you can see from the article below, he is giving away 400,000 daily free meals to poor children this summer.  He has no plans to help the parents of these children get jobs, go to school or make money. 

What is even more ridiculous is that he was offering 400,000 free meals a day and only 30% of the poor children eligible for the meals ate them. So the program wasn't even really necessary - 70% of the people thought to need the service did not even accept the service. The food and money was just wasted. It should have been a much smaller program, but it's not Mr. Cuomo's money so who cares. NY State has the highest tax rate in the country in large part because Mr. Cuomo does STUPID stuff like this. He wants to be president some day.

400,000 children who don't have parents who can buy them food is a CRISIS (a terrible situation that has to be taken care of). We should be looking for the underlying causes of this crisis and trying to end poverty. But this would not help Governor Cuomo to potentially become president of the United States. So he will not be tackling (addressing/trying to solve the problem of) poverty any time soon.

Here is a message from the Governor:

https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-announces-free-meals-help-feed-400000-children-summer

Vocabulary to help you read this message:

to remind - to repeat something so that it will be fresh in a person's mind

drawing to a close - coming to an end

to be or remain eligible for s/t - to be qualified for something, to be able to be a part of something

nutritious - food which is good for one's health

fills a gap - meets a need that isn't being met

a proclamation - a formal announcement

to highlight an issue - to call attention to an issue

vital - essential, necessary for life

federally funded - so Cuomo got this money from the US government

only an estimated 3 out of 10 eligible students are being fed - this means that most students who can use the program are not using the program because they don't need it. So the program isn't even necessary, but Cuomo wants to run it anyway to make himself seem more popular.

disseminating information - giving out or spreading information

a food pantry or soup kitchen - a food pantry is a place in a city where people can come and pick up free food. A soup kitchen is where people can come and get a free hot meal (it is called a soup kitchen but soup is usually not served).

migrant programs - I am guessing these are programs that travel around

Craigslist - the most dangerous and corrupt site on the internet?

This site is dangerous.

Many people lose money because of this site and some people have been killed. At least 20 people were killed because of craigslist in 2014.

Does craigslist care? No. Obviously not. Their attitude seems to be: millions of people use the site, so 20 dead people doesn't sound that bad.

Because craigslist does not care how many people die using their website, the police in the USA are trying to do something

Here is an article about craigslist.org

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/03/02/following-craigslist-crimes-police-across-the-country-are-opening-safe-havens-for-transactions/

Vocabulary to help you understand the article:

a haven - a safe place

desperately - if you are desperate to do something, you really, really, really want to do it

authorities - this usually means the police

an ambush - when people hide and wait for someone and then jump out ad attack

dumping - dropping

a pond - a small body of water

rural - outside of a city, in the countryside

armed robbery - stealing something with a gun

heartache - a painful emotional feeling

surveillance - the area is being videotaped by police

the lot - an open area, like a parking lot

a deterrent - a deterrent is something that will stop a person from committing a crime

to launch a program - to start a program

Stereotypes of Americans (among international students in Japan) ~~~so funny!

America is a pretty diverse country (diverse - many different types of people), but people around the world seem to have stereotypes as to what an average American might look like and how an American might behave. (A stereotype is a common image or impression that comes to mind when you think of a 'type' of person.)

In this article in London's Daily Mail, international students in Japan think Americans are 'white, fat and they eat a lot of hamburgers.' Actually, if you came to NY City, you would be surprised by how diverse (different) the people here are. 

The article:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3118471/International-students-reveal-believe-makes-Americans-different-people-countries-comical-video.html?ito=social-facebook

Vocabulary to help you understand the article:

to reveal - in this case, to tell

comical - funny

interviewees - people being interviewed

to distinguish _____ from ______ - to be able to tell the difference between, to notice differences between one group or thing and another

abroad - away from your home country

tell-tale signs - little things that can be noticed about someone that reveal knowledge about that person

it's a cinch - it's a sure thing, it's certain.  i.e.  Do you think you will pass the test tomorrow?  Yes, it's a cinch! (Or - It will be a cinch.)

to run the gamut from - to fall into a range of possibilities from, to be among these possibilities

personality - the basic features of the way a person is or acts make up a person's personality. i.e.  Joe has a nice personality; he is polite and kind and always helpful.

to poke fun at - to make fun out of in a nice way

politically correct terminology - in this case: when you want to say something negative but you say it in a very nice way

mimes stuffing her face - to mime something is to pretend to do it, so her friend pretends to be putting a lot of food into her mouth

plump and chubby - not fat but kind of fat

a red flag - some indication of something, usually an indication that something is wrong, but not in the case of this article

staples - something very common and used a lot; this term 'a staple' is often used in regard to food: Rice is a staple food in many cultures. (Rice is a common food that supports people's lives.)

the laid-back attitude - if you are laid-back you are easy-going and not bothered by many things. In America we think that people in California have laid-back attitudes.

to get wasted - to get very drunk (after drinking a lot of alcohol)

a mistake in the article: We don't go to people and say, "Hey what's up?" not: We don't got to people and say, Hey what's up? 

jolly - happy, in a good mood