By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist
Honestly, I was going to sit out the Cynthia Davis kerfuffle. The Republican Missouri House member from St. Charles County has been making bizarre pronouncements for years. Birth control promotes promiscuous behavior -- remember that one?
So when she said in her newsletter that she opposed summer nutrition programs for impoverished children, and that "hunger can be a motivating factor," I chalked it up to Davis being Davis.
But that was weeks ago, and the story has caught fire in the blogosphere and on cable TV, with MSNBC's Keith Olbermann calling her the "worst person in the world."
Now Davis has defended herself in this piece in the Springfield News Leader.
It includes this observation:
Look into your own heart and ask, "What made a difference in my life as a child?" Was it standing in line for a cafeteria style meal at school or was it sitting around the kitchen table with your family? Government should not take the care of their children from them. The right way to help is treat the root cause, not the symptom. We must support parents in providing for their children, not circumvent them.
In Davis's skewed world, every household has two parents, no one is unemployed and Mom is available to feed the kids lunch at home when school is out for the summer.
She wants to treat the "root cause" of impoverished families' problems, not acknowledging that said root cause just might be poverty itself.
Nor does Davis propose how she would go about treating the "root cause." Don't suggest food stamps, because she doesn't like that program either.
I wouldn't call Davis the worst person in the world. I just wish she didn't serve in the Missouri Legislature.
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There you go again Barb
Where you lost me and quite honestly, the grasp of the truth fleshed out by facts and scientific study, is when you stated that "root cause just might be poverty itself." Poverty is merely a symptom of behaviour, culture, and values. Fixing a person's poverty will not fix their social problems. It may make us feel better, but in the long run, it will lead to more entitlement mentality, and more dependence and no long term improvement for the individual.
Pulling out the Birth Control/promiscuity issue also shows your ignorance of reality. In fact, although the causal effect is small, multiple studies have shown that promotion of Birth Control in young adults leads to promiscuity. I know that this does not fit your view of the world, or the view of many other people for that matter, but that is why our society is continually degrading in tiny increments.
In general, just because it makes us feel good, does not mean it is in our best interests.
I am a liberal on a lot of topics
...but since I don't pray at the alter of Obama, I'm not included in their club anymore.
Personal responsibility is not liberal or conservative. I am responsible for my two children, whether its their home, clothes, food or education. If my kids can't read--its my responsibility--not the school district. If my kids are hungry then its my responsibility to provide for them. If I can't afford to have children, I should not be having children. Period.
I have no problem with government helping those who can't--I do have a problem with people who believe they are entitled to financial support because of the CHOICES they made.
And the whole "she doesn't want to feed hungry kids" whine smacks exactly like the "you support murder of innocent babies if you support abortion rights".
Apparently Ms Davis has trouble taking care of her own kids
Three years ago, her 4 year old was found in the middle of the highway in O'Fallon.
http://www.firedupmissouri.com/node/4102
And she used campaign funds to pay her personal taxes.
http://www.firedupmissouri.com/node/1332
She also believes fathers are not natural nurturers.
http://www.komu.com/satellite/SatelliteRender/KOMU.com/ba8a4513-c0a8-2f11-0063-9bd94c70b769/95903676-80ce-0971-0068-80139e602a04
Surely O'Fallon can do better.
apop
You know damn good and well this isn't about "not wanting to feed poor hungry kids".
When did you stop beating your wife?
Go back and read what Cynthia Davis said again
When did you stop beating your wife?
She doesn't want to feed hungry kids. She thinks it is their parent's responsibility.
So do I
She doesn't want to feed hungry kids. She thinks it is their parent's responsibility.
I think its their parent's responsibility too. Does that mean I don't want to feed hungry kids? Geesh.
Sorry, I don't do the whole "pity me" thing. Just so I understand, people don't want government to lecture or dictate how someone should live their life, but damn it, government should throw money their way when they eff up.
Why is personal responsibility such a challenge for you, apop?
It's not about personal responsibility
She doesn't want to feed hungry kids. She thinks it is their parent's responsibility.
I think its their parent's responsibility too. Does that mean I don't want to feed hungry kids? Geesh.
Sorry, I don't do the whole "pity me" thing. Just so I understand, people don't want government to lecture or dictate how someone should live their life, but damn it, government should throw money their way when they eff up.
Why is personal responsibility such a challenge for you, apop?
It's about a woman who lets her own kids roam in the middle of a highway, and who believes men are not "natural" parents because they can't breast feed - it's about this woman making decisions about what is best for all children in MO.
Now, find a significant number of parents in MO who don't want to take personal responsibility for taking care of their own children. We already have a system for dealing with parents (like Ms Davis) who neglect their kids. Why is penalizing all hungry kids even necessary?
Personal Responsibiltiy..
this is a foreign concept to libs Jenni since with it comes ACCOUNTABILITY, which they abor. Why, if someone has to be accountable for their action/inaction, well, that just isn't "fair". You neocons which support this are just mean and don't want to "help" people remain wedded to the govt. teat which provides all us libs jobs doling-out your money.
Follow the money and the jobs....
How responsible is it
Follow the money and the jobs....
How responsible is it to let your kids roam in the middle of a state highway? Do you suppose Cynthia fed her child before she sent her out to play? Would that make it okay?
Apop - you diverted (as always)
You started your posts about one thing (feeding the kids), but when people brought up "personal responsibility", you found an article that says nothing more than a kid of hers got away. Of course the website was an anti-Davis site who didn't mention specifics.
How many parents have lost track of one of their kids in their lifetime? I have. Thankfully they didn't end up on a paved road, but IT HAPPENS. (one parent thought the other was watching the kid and visa versa).
My point is - you diverted. You don't understand personal responsibility, so you found an incident of someone who understands it, to use for your rebuttal.
Her child was in the middle of a highway
How many parents have lost track of one of their kids in their lifetime? I have. Thankfully they didn't end up on a paved road, but IT HAPPENS. (one parent thought the other was watching the kid and visa versa).
My point is - you diverted. You don't understand personal responsibility, so you found an incident of someone who understands it, to use for your rebuttal.
Not at the neighbors or hiding under a bed or in a tree or even down the street, but in the middle of a highway.
Yes I lost my kids a few times when they were little but NEVER IN THE MIDDLE OF A HIGHWAY.
Now you accused me of changing the subject, but I did not. jeniferm and kcgrh brought up this whole 'personal responsibility' theme. I merely pointed out that Ms Davis is not exactly the picture of 'personal responsibility' when it comes to her own parenting skills.
This woman wouldn't pass the background check required for beginning teachers in MO (a DFS file would make her ineligible for a teaching certificate) but she is an elected official.
Now please explain why you are defending this woman.
Apop -
Now please explain why you are defending this woman.
.
Because #1 - based on your posts, you don't value personal responsibility - instead would rather the government take it for people who they have made dependant.
#2 - you went to a website that most likely was not objective, and didn't care to provide specifics - but it fit your purposes.
Sorry, I'm With Rep. Davis
I read her comments on her web site, and most of what has been written has been taken out of context.
Rep. Davis was simply objecting to a State SUMMER "school lunch" program. The program not only sounds silly, it IS silly. Rep. Davis -- lost in the sound bite quote -- makes a very valid point that even impoverished parents have to step up and be responsible for their own kids. Needy parents are already given Food Stamps and WIC to provide for their children. It is NOT asking too much for them to use WHAT IS ALREADY PROVIDED FOR THEM to feed their own children. The thought that we ALSO would have to cook the food for these people offends me.
I think it's good that someone actually stood up and said that we have ENOUGH welfare programs already.
Feeding kids is silly?
Rep. Davis was simply objecting to a State SUMMER "school lunch" program. The program not only sounds silly, it IS silly. Rep. Davis -- lost in the sound bite quote -- makes a very valid point that even impoverished parents have to step up and be responsible for their own kids. Needy parents are already given Food Stamps and WIC to provide for their children. It is NOT asking too much for them to use WHAT IS ALREADY PROVIDED FOR THEM to feed their own children. The thought that we ALSO would have to cook the food for these people offends me.
I think it's good that someone actually stood up and said that we have ENOUGH welfare programs already.
I see you have never been on food stamps. It is a MINIMAL amount, not meant to replace the entire food budget. During the school year, kids are fed breakfast and lunch at school but in the summer, they are at home. The food stamp allotment for their families does not increase yet their parents are providing 2 meals a day they haven't had to provide while school was in session.
Sorry cooking food offends you. Perhaps it should be served raw? Then we can argue about whether or not these children deserve health care for the resulting food poisoning.
I would suggest you get yourself down to Harvesters or to one of the churches serving summer meals to hungry kids, listen to a few stories and then maybe you will understand how widespread child hunger is. You would also see that the parents of these children are likely working 2 or even 3 jobs and barely keeping their bills paid. I have been working with these kids for 30 years and I can assure you only a very small number have parents on welfare, and they are on welfare because they are disabled. The myth of welfare moms sitting at home drawing a check so they don't have to work really is a myth. Your stereotype is as ignorant as it is hateful. And dangerous.
Apop
Sorry cooking food offends you. Perhaps it should be served raw? Then we can argue about whether or not these children deserve health care for the resulting food poisoning.
You missed the point, which was that it is unnecessary to create a NEW program where there are existing programs. If food stamps and WIC are inadequate, then I have no problem with increasing them so they are adequate. Is that really so gol-darned heartless, huh?
I am fully aware that there are many people working 2 or 3 jobs to support their families. We may not have been welfare recipients, but over the last 20 years my wife and I have frequently held anywhere from 2-4 jobs between us while raising kids. And we sure did have to work extra hard at night to make sure our children had meals ready for them to eat for lunch the next day. It's called "parental responsibility". I don't ask the poor to do anything that my wife and I haven't had to do for ourselves - to-wit, COOK the &$^#$^ food for their own kids! Jeez. If these people can't spend the time to slap together a PB&J sandwich (and then only for 3 months out of the year!), they have no business having custody of kids.
You give the ultra-conservatives all the ammunition they need to complain about the nanny state.
Lack of knowledge
Sorry cooking food offends you. Perhaps it should be served raw? Then we can argue about whether or not these children deserve health care for the resulting food poisoning.
You missed the point, which was that it is unnecessary to create a NEW program where there are existing programs. If food stamps and WIC are inadequate, then I have no problem with increasing them so they are adequate. Is that really so gol-darned heartless, huh?
I am fully aware that there are many people working 2 or 3 jobs to support their families. We may not have been welfare recipients, but over the last 20 years my wife and I have frequently held anywhere from 2-4 jobs between us while raising kids. And we sure did have to work extra hard at night to make sure our children had meals ready for them to eat for lunch the next day. It's called "parental responsibility". I don't ask the poor to do anything that my wife and I haven't had to do for ourselves - to-wit, COOK the &$^#$^ food for their own kids! Jeez. If these people can't spend the time to slap together a PB&J sandwich (and then only for 3 months out of the year!), they have no business having custody of kids.
You give the ultra-conservatives all the ammunition they need to complain about the nanny state.
Please explain how a parent working 2 jobs is able to prepare meals for kids on summer vacation.
You had a wife. What about single parents?
I also guess you don't realize our child protective service programs would never be able to meet the demand if we turned in every parent who was unable to feed their kids in the summer. That's not very realistic. Meals that cost $2.50 each are lots more affordable.
You give me all the ammunition I need to label conservatives as heartless and clueless.
No doubt
At this point if Olbermann calls you the worst person in the world, I would wear that as a badge of honor. So I would guess Davis has some redeeming qualities. And Barb's writing has a tendency to omit facts that might skewer her agenda. So, no doubt there is more to this story than this rant.
I've always found it funny that "journalists" choose to trash politicians regularly--but never go after the voters who put them into office. Why not rip the good hard working people of Davis's district for being too ignorant to see what kind of person that represents them?
What facts is Barb leaving out?
I've always found it funny that "journalists" choose to trash politicians regularly--but never go after the voters who put them into office. Why not rip the good hard working people of Davis's district for being too ignorant to see what kind of person that represents them?
What I find most interesting about this particular story is that Ms Davis keeps opening her mouth and uttering even more stupid statements. She doesn't believe in feeding hungry kids. We get that. Many times now.
God forbid her kids are ever hungry and need food she can't afford. BTW, I would be the first one to feed them in spite of their ignorant mother's comments.
Cynthia Doesn't even know the needs in her own district
In her Capitol Report Cynthia Davis stated "While I have not seen this as a problem in my district, it is entirely possible that this program is designed to address problems that exist in other parts of Missouri.", but the sad thing is that less than 2 miles from her home and business Back to Basics Christian Bookstore an elementary school (Dardenne Elementary) in her 19th district 37% of the students qualify for the Free Lunch program (NSLP), so not only does Ms Davis not understand the needs of the children in our state she doesn’t understand the needs of the children in her own district.
It outrageous for Ms. Davis to shame Missouri parents for needing help feeding their children, when with the states unemployment rate is 9.0% up from 5.8% in 2008. Ms Davis owes all of the hungry children in our state and her district a public apology, when she receives an $87.00 per day per diem during the legislative session on the tax payer’s dime, and I would much rather pay for the $3.00 lunch so that children of poor working parents can have a nutritious lunch than for Ms Davis to eat on my dime.
Ms. Davis needs to do the right thing and step down from her committee: The Special Standing Committee on Children and Families, because Ms Davis's heartless comments on the hungry children in our state shows that she has no business being the Chairman or a member of any such committee.
Babs,
The question that should be asked is WHY the parent is putting the child in a summer free school breakfast/lunch/dinner program.
Some of those kids NEED to be removed from parents that are abusive, and yes not feeding your kids because you spent the money/food stamps on crack, meth, or booze is abuse. These kids need to be removed from danger, feeding them at school isn't going to solve their problems because they have to go back to that house where some idiot is cooking meth, or worse.
Some of the parents actually need other assistance and either don't know how to get it or cannot afford it, whether it's because of a physical health problem, or needing skills training so they can get better employment so they can better care for their kids themselves. They don't need the state interferring with their relationship with their kids, and these programs DO interfere, that is part of the reason they exist. The parents don't want a hand out, they need a hand up whether it's somebody to help out while they recover from an injury or surgery, or somebody to help them figure out how to find skills training that will work for them. These parents don't need or want the government getting involved in their lives and feeding their kids, they need some help to get past a difficult time, they need someone to teach them to fish.
Then there are those who are certainly well enough off to afford to feed their kids themselves and are physically able to do so, but want to shove their kids off to these programs because they are too lazy, or too self centered to care how their kids get fed as long as it doesn't interfere with their partying, their sleep over date for the night, or interrupt them watching their soaps or American Idol. What these parents need is a swift kick in the rear, and the government feeding their kids for them does nothing but encourage them to be even more irresponsible than they already are.
Kicking the parents in the rear doesn' t get their kids fed
Then there are those who are certainly well enough off to afford to feed their kids themselves and are physically able to do so, but want to shove their kids off to these programs because they are too lazy, or too self centered to care how their kids get fed as long as it doesn't interfere with their partying, their sleep over date for the night, or interrupt them watching their soaps or American Idol. What these parents need is a swift kick in the rear, and the government feeding their kids for them does nothing but encourage them to be even more irresponsible than they already are.
Kids are still hungry, regardless of how irresponsible their parents may be.
Because the kids are hungry, that's why.
Some of those kids NEED to be removed from parents that are abusive, and yes not feeding your kids because you spent the money/food stamps on crack, meth, or booze is abuse. These kids need to be removed from danger, feeding them at school isn't going to solve their problems because they have to go back to that house where some idiot is cooking meth, or worse.
This is not a school based program. These children are being fed at churches for about $2.50 a meal. It's a great bargain.
As for your allegation about parents cooking meth (or worse), there is absolutely no evidence that hungry children are more likely to come from families where meth cooking takes priority over feeding kids.