Obey says Team Obama suggested cutting food stamps to save Race to the Top from cuts

[Hannah Bell]

Remember that important NYT story from early this year describing the growing number of Americans whose sole income consists of food stamps...?

Well, months after that report came out, some genius in the Obama Administration, according to a very shrill David Obey, proposed offsetting funds to keep teachers in the schools by cutting food stamps. Said genius wanted to cut these people’s only safety net so Arne Duncan could go on privatizing our schools...

"It blows my mind that the White House would even notice the fight . I would have expected the president to say to the secretary, “look, you’re getting a good deal, for God’s sake, what this really does is guarantee that the rest of the money isn’t going to be touched.”

We gave $4.3 billion in the stimulus package, no questions asked. He could spend it any way he wants. … I trusted the secretary, so I gave him a hell of a lot more money than I should have...

We were told we have to offset every damn dime of . Well, it ain’t easy to find offsets, and with all due respect to the administration their first suggestion for offsets was to cut food stamps. Now they were careful not to make an official budget request, because they didn’t want to take the political heat for it, but that was the first trial balloon they sent down here. … Their line of argument was, well, the cost of food relative to what we thought it would be has come down, so people on food stamps are getting a pretty good deal in comparison to what we thought they were going to get. Well isn’t that nice. Some poor bastard is going to get a break for a change."

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2010/07/17/americas-dilemma-teachers-or-food/

[dana_b]

1. I tried to rec but it didn't register

Food Not Bombs! Let's cut some defense funding and keep the food stamps.

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[sabrina 1]

17. Rec'd also. Some people would prefer not to know the

the sad truth that the 'lesser people' do not matter to those in power.

Obey under the bus now.

[Hekate]

3. Hasn't this already been debunked?

"The budget also would increase government spending on food stamps, a jump of $11 million to a proposed $36 million. That includes an extension for an additional year of benefits under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which temporarily eliminated food stamp time limits for certain low-income adults."

Link here
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8768519

:shrug:

[TheDebbieDee]

4. I find it amazing and frustrating that the same debunked crap

keeps getting posted over and over and over again.

On Thursday or Friday, an un-named source at HuffPo was quoted as stating that Geithner was adamantly opposed to Elizabeth Warren's appointment to some Consumer Protection post. Later that morning, the HuffPo story was debunked as the writer's credibility and the existence of his source was questioned.

But later that evening there were no fewer than 4 more threads about Geithner's opposition to Warren's appointment!

[Number23]

5. That story was debunked??

Later that morning, the HuffPo story was debunked as the writer's credibility and the existence of his source was questioned.

I had no idea! I saw the 4000 threads on it but didn't see a single one admitting that the story was a fake. I know I should be surprised by that, but surprisingly...:eyes:

[TheWraith]

13. DUers are incredibly skeptical of media, until it says what they want to hear.

At which point even Fox News becomes "accurate," and anonymous sources going against public statements are considered gospel.

We laugh at the freepers for citing trash off of NewsMax, but we do the same thing with OpEdNews and WSWS.org.

[JoseGaspar]

16. And a very few DUers think that a mess of a collection of bull points...

... from whitehouse.gov "bebunks" anything that it is arbitrarily (and often randomly) directed against...

...which then creates the perfect opportunity for yet another rendition of the "I can't hear you, I have a banana in my ear" song.

It would be better if you could sing.

[TheWraith]

30. "Bebunks"? Is that like "Refudiate"?

Come back when you have an actual argument on top of the words to make it.

[CBR]

7. It is truly amazing. We all hate the media until

it tells us what we want to hear. LOL!

[Umbral]

6. No, Robert Gibbs or anyone else at the White House has denied that cutting food stamps was suggested

to Representative Obey as a way to pay for his attempts to save the jobs of Teachers. You can point to all the funding legislation you want, it's not a denial. And since we're discussing bullshit excuses, Geithner saying Elizabeth Warren is qualified to head the consumer protection board isn't the same thing as an endorsement, and it's certainly not a denial that he doesn't want her to be given the job. Saying nice things in public about someone doesn't mean you're not trying to stab them in the back.

[Catshrink]

8. I wouldn't put anything past this WH

[Hekate]

29. That statement betrays such hostility that it makes it impossible to engage it meaningfully. nt

[TheWraith]

14. Anyone who understands PR will tell you to never deny an unfounded rumor.

Because thereafter you'll never be doing anything BUT denying every whackjob rumor the press can find.

[girl gone mad]

10. No, it was not debunked. n/t

[JoseGaspar]

15. Read your debunkature again...

There is nothing on that thread which debunks this story and the argument presented on that thread is the thinnest and lamest thing yet. Your linked thread conflates everything from budget increases for the administrative costs of food stamps with all kinds of USDA and other line items which have nothing to do with food stamps. After that, you might pull out your calculator and calculate what a "jump" of $11 million amounts to considering last year's and this year's increases in those who are eligible due to unemployment. Hint: it is less than one "Happy Meal". The way that the administration has talked about this story ("we bumped in in the ARRA, so we can cut some in the 2011 budget"), actually supports Obey's story.

I can spell it out for you cleanly, if you like: non-Food Stamp boutique programs in the ARRA are "traded" off against real programs in the 2011 budget... or at least somebody tried.


Somehow, I think you know this, though...

[Missy Vixen]

21. Marcy Wheeler would not go with a story like this unless she has sources

She likes eating, sleeping inside and paying her bills just as much as the rest of us.

I might also add that Marcy is a master of research.

If she said it happened (and she has sources within Obey's office to back it up,) it happened.

[sabrina 1]

20. That is good, and we should be grateful that the person

who suggested cutting food stamps did not prevail. I don't think Rep. Obey is a liar. And if there is a such a person in this administration, they should be fired.

[ZombieHorde]

23. Thanks for the link. nt

[DevonRex]

9. Debunked already. Yet this BS keeps popping up over and over again. Yawn. nt

[girl gone mad]

11. No, not "debunked".

[quiet.american]

12. Then let's use this phrase "rendered irrelevant." nt

[sabrina 1]

19. Unless your only income is food stamps! n/t

[quiet.american]

22. In which case, you have received an increase thru the Recovery Act --

-- and another one is on the way through the 2011 Budget. In other words, the conversation about whether food stamps funding should be cut is irrelevant because it was never done, and in fact the opposite occurred -- funding for food stamps has been increased for the past year and a half and is scheduled to again be increased through the 2011 budget.

That's why the Obey conversation is irrelevant at this point.

[sabrina 1]

24. That is great, but it doesn't make Obey's charges irrelevant.

It means that someone in this administration was willing to cut off people in need. Unless you think Rep. Obey is a liar. Since I have never known him to lie before, I tend to believe him and would like to know who that person is, and when they are going to be fired. Those are not Democratic principles and such a person doesn't belong in a Democratic administration.

Meantime, I am happy that whoever it was was over-ruled and wiser heads prevailed.

[quiet.american]

26. I'm sorry, but that's a simplistic view of the situation.

I read the entire article, and Obey says some good things about the administration, too - however, that has been ignored in the pushing of this meme that the administration is heartless -- which is absolute nonsense.

Politics is not a Dick-and-Jane-See-Spot-Run affair. I would suggest to you that further context is needed for the remarks that Obey relayed.

[Name removed]

18. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[bobbolink]

25. Thank you, Hannah.

We need to keep being reminded just how much poor people matter to this administration.

Oh, and to the rest of you..... too bad you can't unrec my response. This is NOT an "attack", so if there is truly any justice here, an alert will serve nothing.

[Mimosa]

27. As I recc'ed an unrec happened

Why would Obey lie?

[maryf]

28. kick

Error: you can only recommend threads which were started in the past 24 hours

Teachers will be spending more of their money on food for the kids...shameful...they'll likely do away with free and reduced lunches too...

[Dinger]

31. Kick

:kick: