-
FROM AP: Correction: Oklahoma Tornado story
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
Jerry Behn is running for Iowa State Senate on the heels of Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, and Paul Ryan by stereotyping and demeaning people who have hit hard times and find themselves in need of assistance to meet their basic needs of food, clothing, and a place to rest their heads.
As the presidential debates draw nearer, we need to have a national conversation about the economy and the needs of everyday Americans who make this country great - not just the billionaires who profit from them.
It doesn't take tremendous courage for Washington politicians to cut benefits for politically powerless women and children. On the other hand, imagine the courage it must take for successful men and women to share their personal stories that they once needed the food and nutrition assistance.
Why does this matter? Because in order to learn kids need to be clean, healthy and well fed and in order to work -- to get hired -- the same is true for adults.
The Romney/Ryan ticket is so deeply disturbing to me because it seems to exploit many of the issues that have divided our nation and left a large percentage of our citizenry disenfranchised.
As Romney more or less put it, the dependent think the government owes them food stamps, public housing and Obamacare. In fact, those entitlements benefit two classes. The poor. And the sick. So here's my confession, Mitt. I'm with them. Call me dependent.
You see Mitt, everybody in this country, except you, the Koch brothers and Sheldon Adelson are all just "one bad thing away" from the woman on the street. Get used to it, there are more and more of us, but nobody is talking about it.
The Presidential campaign is now careening from convention to gaffe to speech to debate, and Congressional and Senate races are up on the air in earne...
Every 29 seconds, a child is born into poverty in America. Every 29 seconds. One hundred and twenty-four children every hour. Children like 10-year-old Tyler, five-year-old Keiris, and four-year-old Jerimiah, who live with their mother, Christina Wyatt, 24, in Middletown, Ohio.
It's about dignity. How can we expect our elected officials to be accountable for the choices they make with our taxpayer money if we as citizens can't even hold ourselves accountable for the actions we take with money that's essentially been gifted to us?
The GOP is no longer the Party of Lincoln. It is now the Party of Mitt, one willing to play to the fears and prejudices of the masses, instead of the hopes and aspirations that have kept this country going. Of course, he believes it's the only path to victory.
Behind the multi-million dollar stage in Tampa, beneath the glittery "reintroduction" of Mitt Romney as a pragmatic business guy, lies this "hard truth." And with record numbers in poverty, Mitt's promise is to savage vital programs for the vulnerable.
Students can't learn if they are hungry. But if you're a child that missed breakfast because your family simply doesn't have the food or the money, you have something in common with about 16 million poor children in the U.S.
Embracing Paul Ryan's vision now is not only a gamble for Mitt Romney, whose flip-flop from Massachusetts moderate to severe conservative would give our Olympic gymnasts a run for their gold medals, but an unacceptable risk for millions of American families who need the benefits they've earned.
It is no surprise that spending on basic assistance declined dramatically in the 15 years since welfare reform became law, as this was one of the aims of the law.
It explains misfortune and reduces the pain of daily life. By the same token it also opens the door to political abuse, demagoguery, and a future of political regret.
