In a special session that epitomized everything people hate about Congress, a bill to help states was passed with $26 billion in money that was offset with strange accounting measures. That is something we’ve come to expect from this Congress—worry about paying for it later, by our children and grandchildren.
Many Democrats were uncomfortable with the vote on August 10, but they may come back to Congress for another vote that will be billed as an $8 billion child nutrition bill. This bill is at the center of Michelle “Marie Antoinette” Obama’s “Let’s Move” initiative to fight childhood obesity.
First Ladies have testified before Congress on their initiatives. Lady Bird Johnson embraced “Keep America Beautiful,” but that was primarily a call to the American people to pick up after themselves. Barbara and Laura Bush embraced literacy issues and lobbied Congress on education spending.
But never have we seen a staff assembled and a budget granted within the White House the size of Mrs. Obama’s initiative. It’s as if it’s a “top priority” policy goal of the President’s. And you know how well that’s going. We can’t keep track of all the top priorities in the White House.
House Democrats reluctantly cut food stamps to fund the state-aid bill, but if they have to go back to that well again there may be a problem. The Senate passed an $8 billion measure before the summer recess that is paid for by cutting the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamps. This cut would come on top of a 13.6% cut made with the August 10 special session vote.
Now you know and I know, this funding will be restored. The “cut” was made to make the bill work for passage, so that Democrats could say they funded the states without increasing the deficit. The point is, however, cuts to food stamps with fake money we don’t have that is put into a fake child-obesity prevention program the First Lady is advocating, won’t help children.
We are the only country in the world with an obesity problem among the poor. I don’t disagree that we all need to make better choices. Why not enlist writers and other outlets to spread the “Let’s Move” message for free, instead of taking money out of program that most people support in theory? Why not concentrate on making sure that people don’t abuse the food stamp program and let families worry about their children’s obesity issues?
House Democrats have written Speaker Nancy Pelosi about an alternate plan that would meet the needs they see in the food stamp program and address childhood obesity issues. This letter is key because it is Democrats complaining that their views are not being heard.
It will be important to see how the House leadership handles the call for debate within its own party leading up to the midterm elections. The two authors of the letter, Representatives James McGovern (D.-Mass.) and Keith Ellison (D.-Minn.), said, “This is one of the more egregious cases of robbing Peter to pay Paul.”
With all the nice pictures of Mrs. Obama and Harry Reid showing Americans how they need to move to be more healthy, we get the message. I’m not a big fan of any federal program and I don’t believe that moving money from one program to an initiative of the First Lady’s will help anyone. It will just go to pay for her bloated over-paid staff and make them feel like they are doing some good for the children. “Let them eat cake,” Mrs. Obama might as well be saying. Gluten Free and Sugar Free that is.
Congress should get back to work and start cutting back—not shifting the burden somewhere else. The American people are sick of your elitist attitude that you know better what’s good for us. The election and implementation of the Obama agenda, Barack and Michelle, is the epitome of the “I know what’s best for you” mentality of government.
If we ran our household the way the Congress and the White House are running our government, then we’d be on the street and in November, we are going to put as many of them as possible on the street as we can.
Remember in November.
