Via

Let me fix that sentence for you.

THIS is what poverty sometimes looks like in America: This is what government dependency looks like in America; parents here in Appalachian hill country pulling their children out of literacy classes. Moms and dads fear that if kids learn to read, they are less likely to qualify for a monthly check for having an intellectual disability.
Many people in hillside mobile homes here are poor and desperate, and a $698 monthly check per child from the Supplemental Security Income program goes a long way — and those checks continue until the child turns 18.

“After the election of Jimmy Carter, the honorable Coleman Alexander Young, he went to Washington, D.C. and came home with some bacon,” said Watson. “That’s what you do.”

Via Drudge

Reuters;

U.S. manufacturing unexpectedly contracted in November, falling to its lowest in over three years in a sign the sector may be struggling to gain traction, according to an industry report released on Monday.

More – Particular data points of note: Employment down from 52.1 to 48.4; New Orders slide from 54.2 to 50.3, and in the worst news for GDP Exports declined, Imports rose and Inventories plunged – which was to be expected after a huge inventory build up in Q3 pushed GDP much higher in the period. Expect even more downward GDP recessions on today’s ugly data.

Barack Obama Honors Rosa Parks Anniversary By Tweeting Picture Of . . . Barack Obama…

From the comments;

Next on O’s list of poses:
With flag at Iwo-Jima
The Spirit of St Louis
In a lab coat with penicillin mold
Sporting a corncob pipe on beach in the Phillipines
North face of Mt Everest
Mt Rushmore
Finish line at Daytona
please add yours..

h/t Black Mamba