Just plain mean

by | May 17, 2017 | Editor's Blog, North Carolina, Politics | 9 comments

When you thought that the state Senators couldn’t get more vindictive, they outdo themselves. Last week, we learned they cut education funding for school districts represented by Democratic Senators who tried to amend their budget.  This week, we find out the budget denies free and reduced lunch to more than 50,000 North Carolina school children. To make matters worse, the federal government, not state, pays for those lunches.

The Republican Senators are clearly trying to make a point. They believe that too much money is being spent to help poor people and we need to curb spending. Even if the money is coming from the feds, they argue, it’s still coming out of taxpayers’ pockets. Taking it out on children, though, is inexcusable.

Blaming poor people for being poor is a time-honored tradition among Republicans. In their view, food support just increases dependency for otherwise able adults who don’t want the responsibility of paying for their families. They’re looking at the forest and ignoring the trees. While some people might be duping the government, the kids eating free lunch certainly are not.

I’ve seen a lot of poverty up close. Helping people survive and escape it, especially children, should be a moral imperative. Fraud in welfare programs certainly exists, but mental health, intellectual limitations, physical challenges and substance abuse play a much greater role in keeping people poor.

In related news, stories have been popping up of schools shaming students whose parents have failed to pay lunch bills. They’re disturbing to read if you have any sense of empathy. Schools deny children hot lunches and give them cold sandwiches instead, embarrassing them in front of classmates and marking them as poor. That’s no way to encourage kids to stay in school.

Republicans seem to think that stigmatizing poverty will encourage people to leave it, but being poor is enough of a burden. Poor kids are routinely denied advantages many of us take for granted. Many have transportation problems that prevent them from participating in extracurricular activities such sports or theater. Others can’t pay dues to join clubs or go to events. Making them sit through the school day hungry will likely just discourage them from going to school, not make them want to escape their circumstances any more. And blaming them for being poor is just plain mean.

9 Comments

  1. Joshua Kricker

    “The GOP euthanizing the poor one benefit cut at a time.” That should be their new political slogan.

  2. A.D. Reed

    Thank god (as it were) for the non-christian, non-theist, non-deist, humanists who comprise the Ethical Humanist Society of Asheville and other communities of faith (like WNC Humanists and Unitarian-Universalists) that put their faith in the hearts and minds of people instead of magic sky giants that care nothing for actual living, breathing beings.

    Members of EHSA (I’m one) feed the homeless three weeks a year through Room In The Inn and share our pass-the-plate donations every month with Homeward Bound and other organizations that help those in need. Being very familiar with traditional religious institutions and practices, I find myself regularly stunned by how unchristian so many members of so many “christian” denominations are (to say nothing of the denominations themselves), and how much like Jesus so many nonbelievers behave. All these atheists go out and feed the hungry, clothe the poor, succor the sick, and generally treat the least of these as they would be treated. Or, in the Ethical Society construct, evoke the best in other people, and thereby in oneself.

    By my reckoning, every last Republican legislator in North Carolina — including the “good” ones like Chuck McGrady — falls into the first category (unchristian), and not one into the latter (christ-like). And to a man (and woman), they insist they are christians.

    Immoral, unethical, faithless, despicable … is “evil” too strong a word for them?

  3. Ashamed

    When we say “Women and children first” we are not talking about budget cuts.

  4. Tamara Brogan

    This post and the previous one titled, “Whipping Boy” made me sick to my stomach. How can the NC Senate Republicans justify to themselves that it is okay to take out their frustrations and abuse their power on children? Those STEM programs and the early collage high schools in the two counties that they would strip funding for will really harm those students ability to be successful beyond high school and limits their ability to be better prepared for the workforce. How does that make any sense for helping citizens in counties escape poverty and boost economic development?
    For some of those children on free and reduced lunch, the meals they receive at school are the only meal they get all day. That is why back pack pals is a popular program in some areas because it gives those children food to eat for the weekend, when otherwise, they would have NOTHING to eat all weekend. What about those children during the summer when school is out? I know there are some resources in the community to help, however, it is a concern. Children can’t learn if they are hungary and their needs are not met. They are punishing poor children for being poor and hindering their future success instead of trying to help them succeed. Real leaders believe in doing what’s best and helping all the people they serve, not just a select few. Real leaders also put good governance and doing the right thing for the citizens before themselves and their power. Clearly, this group is lacking on all accounts. We need to need to send them home next year and replace them with REAL Leaders!

  5. Norma Munn

    Is this a final aspect of the budget? Does Cooper have line item veto?

  6. Troy

    Strange, isn’t it? How on the one hand they are “pro-life” and pledge themselves to protecting every child, born and unborn. Then without hesitation, they propose to starve those that are already on this earth. Good Christians one and all they are.

    If Christ were still here, I think he would turn them all into pillars of salt.

    • Notaneer

      Yes nothing like sanctimonious, self-righteous, “christian” (note small “c”) hypocrites – may they all rot in hell.

  7. Walt de Vries, Ph.D.

    And, Thomas, every one of those Republican State Senators would claim that he or she is a Christian…a follower of Christ.

  8. willard cottrell

    It’s beyond surreal. Republicans are bastards – and I mean every god damned one of them. And the big joke – they ALL call themselves christians. Now, there my friends is the gist of the problem. christian, IMHO, have lost any and ALL credibility. Until this problem is addressed, we will continue to suffer under this tyranny of religion.

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