Starve Them and Stop the Breeding

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-22-2010
Starve Them and Stop the Breeding
53
Mon, 01-25-2010 - 1:38pm
It's hard to believe that such a statement actually came out of the mouth of a high ranking state political leader.
S.C. Republican’s Plan: Starve the Poor So They’ll Stop “Breeding”
by James Ridgeway



Lt. Governor, Andre Bauer: If you feed, them, they’ll just come back for more–and worse still, they’ll multiply.

Poor people are like stray dogs and cats, says South Carolina’s Republican Lt. Governor, Andre Bauer. If you feed, them, they’ll just come back for more–and worse still, they’ll multiply. That’s why it’s a bad idea to give them free food or other forms of public assistance.


At a forum in Greeneville on Saturday, Bauer, who is running for governor, told the crowd:



My grandmother was not a highly educated woman, but she told me as a small child to quit feeding stray animals. You know why? Because they breed.


You’re facilitating the problem if you give an animal or a person ample food supply. They will reproduce, especially ones that don’t think too much further than that. And so what you’ve got to do is you’ve got to curtail that type of behavior. They don’t know any better.


In a later interview with the Columbia, S.C. newspaper The State, Bauer “said he could have chosen his words more carefully,” but that doesn’t change the fact that “South Carolina needs to have an honest conversation about the cycle of government dependency among its poorest residents.”


According to the Children’s Defense Fund, those ���poorest residents” include 190,000 children. South Carolina is the 37th worst state when it come to child poverty, 45th worst for infant mortality, and 48th worst for low birth weight babies. Perhaps Andre Bauer can have an “honest conversation” with them–if they aren’t too hungry to talk.


Bauer, who has risen in state politics as a Christian conservative, was immediately attacked by his Democratic opponents for the governor’s seat:



“It amazes me how some Republican politicians claim a monopoly on Christianity and then go out and say and do some of the most un-Christian things imaginable,” said Charleston attorney Mullins McLeod, who participated in a candidates forum in Columbia along with Bauer Saturday. “... Bauer’s comments are despicable and the total opposite of the Christian values Bauer espouses.”


Those “Christian values” were much on display back in June of 2009, when Bauer was rumored to be pressuring Mark Sanford to resign after the governor declared his love for his Argentinian girlfriend. (According to state law, Bauer would have replaced him.)


Yes, Mr. Bauer, let's starve them. That should definitely do the trick. Before long America could look just like Haiti (before the earthquake), with rows of plywood shacks in every city and little children dying in the streets. What an America to be proud of.


Are there too many people taking advantage of so-called poverty in this country?  Absolutely. Should we try to re-evaluate "poverty" and make changes accordingly?  You bet. But the idea of starvation as a means to ending poverty? What kind of heartless creature even allows such a thought to come to their mind?


 In case Mr. Bauer hasn't noticed (and I'm sure he hasn't) there are approximately 11 million Americans out of a job right now. An immeasurable number are underemployed.


Before we could even consider making poor people self-reliant we would have to find work for all those who are currently marketable but lack decent employment. Then we would have to school and train those poor people to bring them up to speed in order for them to compete in the job market alongside everyone else. And the truly poor, those who honestly deserve public assistance will never be on the job rolls because they are elderly or handicapped (physically or mentally). Should we watch poor, elderly people starve to death? What about the handicapped? Should we starve them, too?


It is statements like Mr. Bauer's that has turned me against anything even remotely Republican. With spokespeople like him and Rush and Sean, how much lower could they sink when it comes to thoughtlessness and the inability to find solutions rather than brew hatefulness?


 

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-28-2009
Wed, 01-27-2010 - 10:51am

We have laws in my state that prevent people from being buried in substandard coffins and it has to have a concrete liner. I think that what is happening here is that the state will cremate someone, but will not pay for costs of a burial since it is so expensive. They used to pay for burial, but I remember reading something that the policy had changed due to cost.

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-28-2009
Wed, 01-27-2010 - 10:55am
Where am I getting that from? From the Welfare Reform Act of 1996.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2000
Wed, 01-27-2010 - 11:01am

"..you're only allowed to collect welfare for 2 years.."


I thought so too.


1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act

From SourceWatch

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Photobucket&nbs

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-22-2010
Wed, 01-27-2010 - 1:26pm

Your story is one of many. Kudos to you for not only speaking up about it, but for seeing the problems (and you see them first-hand) and for not allowing yourself to get caught up in this life cycle.


I work closely with a woman who's family sounds very similar to yours. My co-worker is the only sibling in her family who is gainfully employed and takes care of her children and responsibilities. Her sisters are all on welfare, living with mamma, and basically do nothing. I tease my co-worker that she must have been switched at birth because she is such a responsible and hard-working person, she couldn't be from the same genes as her sisters.


I live next door to a welfare family. I won't bore you with the details, but it has definitely been an eye-opening experience. Mom, man, 4 kids and not a moment's work between any of them. If they worked they'd lose the free ride. But sometimes it makes me wonder why I get up every morning and drag my butt to work to pay for the exact same things they get for free - house, utilities (including cable and cell phone), medical care, food. Sure doesn't give me much incentive when I work hard and all my money's gone once I pay my bills.


I am all for assistance for people who need it, and there are plenty who do. There are so many elderly people in this country who are barely able to eat and buy their medications. THEY deserve help. THEY are too old to work, and we should be giving them our respect and help. Same with the handicapped (and I mean the REAL handicapped, not the pretend ones).

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-24-2007
Wed, 01-27-2010 - 1:41pm

Thank you!


I've seen the good welfare and public assistance CAN do.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-30-2007
Wed, 01-27-2010 - 2:22pm

And then there are people like my brother. He worked his entire life. At the age of 60, he had 4 strokes. He lost every thing. Was in a Nursing Home for 2 years. He has no use of his left arm, drags his left leg, has short term memory loss. He gets a little over $900 a month. He pays about $250.00 a month for a small 2 room apt. He gets $14.00 in food stamps. He pays for his own cell phone. Which in this area cost the same amount as a land line. He also pays for his own cable. He's now 66 years old and gets very little help.

I've known people who got welfare and didn't receive hardly any help. No car, no rent, had very little. I had until 2 months ago the neighbors from HE!!. They didn't get any kind of assistance. Made way to much money. I also know people that could have used help. My son was out of work for almost a year. Got nothing, nada, zero. They said if he had a child living with him he'd be eligible for stuff. But since he was a single person, too bad.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-23-2003
Wed, 01-27-2010 - 2:57pm

While I don't disagree with most of what you wrote, I want to know why the emphasis on young women???!


iVillage Member
Registered: 01-22-2010
Thu, 01-28-2010 - 9:56am

Again, I think you're an amazing testament to the fact that welfare doesn't have to be a way of life. Give yourself a big hug and pat on the back.

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-22-2010
Thu, 01-28-2010 - 10:16am

I know what you're saying about the young men, and believe me, in a perfect world sex and the consequences of it would be a 50/50 responsibility.


But we don't live in a perfect world. Men (in general, and especially young men)

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-22-2010
Thu, 01-28-2010 - 10:20am

<<>>


Keep having children, keep getting benefits. Children are the key to the free ride. That's how it works here in Georgia.