Spending in the Twilight Zone

Two statements submitted for your approval:

'Overall spending by all candidates in 2012 is predicted to eclipse an astounding $8 billion.'

And,

'As part of the drive to cut spending, the Obama administration and Congress have trimmed the energy-assistance program that helps the poor — 65,000 households in Maine alone — to pay their heating bills.'

Let's try two more...

'[Obama attended] a $35,000-per-person [campaign fundraising] event at MK Restaurant, where he [ate] dinner...including...Maine salmon with asparagus and shaved fennel, seared Maine sea scallops, rosemary braised short ribs, and parsnip puree.'

And,

'The average amount [of energy assistance] given [in Maine] is $483, down from $804 last year, all at a time when the price of oil has risen more than 40 cents in a year, to $3.71 a gallon...Mainers try to make do. They warm up in idling cars, then dash inside and dive under the covers. They pour a few gallons of kerosene into their oil tank and hope it lasts.'

Two final statements submitted for your approval:

'The Romney plan “would throw 10 million low-income people off the benefit rolls, cut benefits by thousands of dollars a year, or some combination of the two. These cuts would primarily affect very-low-income families with children, seniors and people with disabilities.”

And,

[Mainer] Mr. Hartford, 68, has a bad shoulder, Mrs. Hartford, 71, needs a wheelchair, and the two survive on $1,200 a month. So far this year they have received $360 in heating assistance...about a quarter of last year’s allocation. There is no oil to burn, so the cold takes up residence, beside the dog and the four cats, under the velvet painting of Jesus. The couple has no choice but to run up their electric bill. They turn on the stove’s burners and circulate the heat with a small fan. They run the dryer’s hose back into the basement to keep pipes from freezing, even when there were no clothes to dry.'

The Twilight Zone? No...this is our present reality...

'And the pity of it is that these things cannot be confined to the Twilight Zone...'

'Mr. Hartford drove up to Hometown Energy’s small office in his weathered gray Lincoln, walked inside, and made his desperate offer: the title to his car for some oil.'