Fiddling while Rome burns?

While the media and most everyone else on the blogosphere seems to be concentrating on either Alito, Cheney, Rove or Scooter several very important things are being missed. Buried in the back pages of several of the larger papers was this information as linked above:

WASHINGTON - The House Agriculture Committee approved budget cuts Friday that would take food stamps away from an estimated 300,000 people and could potentially cut off school lunches and breakfasts for 40,000 children.

The action came as the government reported that the number of people who are hungry because they can't afford to buy enough food rose to 38.2-million in 2004, an increase of 7-million in five years. The number represents nearly 12 percent of U.S. households.

Adding to this, last week Mike Oxley's amendment in the House passed on the Federal Mortgage Assistance bill that includes as a requirement that any non-profit organization that has involved themselves in any election process in the past year, even something as simple as helping voters to register, cannot receive funding to help build/assist the poor with housing.

The budget cuts are in response to the government trying to come up with money to help hurricane victims. However what form of logic being used here to take away from those who already do not have enough escapes me. Rather than cut pork, such as bridges to Alaska, or to make cuts in numerous other places before cutting this type of aid? This is what is sliced first. Where is the outcry? Where are the Democrats on this one? Where was the media attention on the Oxley amendment?

Fitzmas is over, Alito will in all probability be confirmed and? The poor will keep getting poorer and no one will seem to notice because by then? It will be too late.

UPDATE: As Gary posted in the comments here, the Senate Judiciary Committee is ready to attempt to advance a newly minted, and renamed faith-based initiative that we all know as the Anti-Gay Amendment to the United States Constitution. They now call it the: "Marriage Protection Amendment." He is asking that you call Arlen Specter who is the head of the Judiciary Committee and urge him to stop or oppose this from leaving the committee. Also contacting your State Senators should be done incase this does leave committee. Specter's Washington Office is: (202)-224-4254. More information is available on Gary's blog.