O hai.

This here's the New South.

Now y'all might think it looks just like the Old South, but y'see, we're running this place with what we like to call "compassionate conservatism"

Quote :

"South Carolina Lt. Governor Andre Bauer, who hopes to succeed fellow Republican Mark Sanford as his state's governor, drew a comparison between government help for poor people and "feeding stray animals" – who, he noted, "breed." "My grandmother was not a highly educated woman, but she told me as a small child to quit feeding stray animals," Bauer said during a town hall meeting, as the Greenville News reported over the weekend. "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." As the Greenville News notes, more than half of the students in South Carolina participate in a program that allows them to get their lunch for free, or at a reduced cost. Bauer later said he wasn't saying those who receive government help "were animals or anything else." He added that his metaphor was taken out of context, WSOCTV reports, and added that "maybe the stray animals wasn't the best metaphor." Bauer made the comment as part of an argument that people should lose government benefits if they fail drug tests or don't attend parent-teacher conferences or PTA meetings. "Look folks, if you receive goods or services from the government and you don't attend a parent-teacher conference, bam, you lose your benefits," he said. In a follow-up story, the Greenville News reports that Bauer said "he would penalize only adults and that he never advocated taking away a child's free or reduced-price lunch. His speech was about breaking the cycle of dependence on government aid, he said." During the town hall meeting, Bauer said he "can show you a bar graph where free and reduced lunch has the worst test scores in the state of South Carolina." He added: "So how do you fix it? Well you say, 'Look, if you receive goods or services from the government, then you owe something back.'" South Carolina Democrats responded harshly to the comments, and there were calls for Bauer to apologize and to drop his gubernatorial bid. Some in his own party were also critical, with Republican state Rep. Harry Cato saying Bauer "has gone overboard.""

LOL

"I can show you a bar graph where free and reduced lunch has the worst test scores in the state of South Carolina."

i guess when the constituents are ignorant and uneducated, it's probably too much to ask that their elected leaders have any capability to critically examine issues of cause and effect,




[Edited on January 26, 2010 at 3:49 AM. Reason : ]

1/26/2010 3:48:20 AM

It's South Carolina. He'll just say it's what God told him to say and be elected as Governor in a landslide.

[Edited on January 26, 2010 at 7:55 AM. Reason : /]

1/26/2010 7:55:06 AM

it's true.

if the government feeds you, why go anywhere else? you'd just come back for more. then these leeches may procreate, teach their offspring the same type of behavior (don't work for yourself, the government will do it for you)... so I don't agree with the "they don't know any better" cause many people sure to know that the government will hand shit out again and again, and these leeches depend on that.

1/26/2010 8:32:11 AM

^We should just kill poor people, shouldn't we?

1/26/2010 8:41:09 AM

B-b-b-b-b-but... they're people. It's their right to breed out of control and have as many babies as they can.

Quote :

"Bauer made the comment as part of an argument that people should lose government benefits if they fail drug tests or don't attend parent-teacher conferences or PTA meetings."

It's so difficult to punish children for their parent's stupid behavior. It wasn't the child's fault that their parents didn't plan ahead, but our system cannot support out of control breeding. You have to stop it before it becomes a problem. Handing out birth control like it's candy is probably the way to go.

1/26/2010 8:45:24 AM

This isn't fucking Democratic Republic of Congo. We don't have "out of control" breeding. We're a goddamn first world country, act like one.

1/26/2010 8:48:07 AM

Quote :

"^We should just kill poor people, shouldn't we?"

it's amazing that this is where your mind goes.

1/26/2010 8:51:50 AM

God, I'm not just talking about the United States of America. And way to shit on the proud people of The Democratic Republic of Congo.

1/26/2010 8:58:04 AM

thinly veiled racism

1/26/2010 9:05:03 AM

It isn't really thinly veiled.

I mean he should have just gone out and said "Shaniqua with her eight jungle babies at Wal-mart"

1/26/2010 9:05:44 AM

^ it’s veiled enough

It own’t be too long before someone pops in and says “bbbbbut he wasn’t BEING racist!!”

1/26/2010 9:06:39 AM

Internet-High Five!

Luckily overpopulation is a self-correcting problem. Hopefully it won't self-correct until I've checked out.

[Edited on January 26, 2010 at 9:09 AM. Reason : .]

1/26/2010 9:08:17 AM

^ i can’t tell if youre joking in this thread or not, but weren’t you the one who admitted to having a horribly racist family? It’s not surprising this type of racism is “normal” to you.

1/26/2010 9:10:11 AM

This wont be done anytime soon but...

Hes got a good point. Yes it was understood wrong, but it is a problem, and this is a good way to try to solve it. It would fix a lot of budget issues and also at the very least get crime reduced (drugs) and get parents involved in their kids schools.

Thinking more, the government could implement this as its meant to punish the adult, not the kids. They take the kids and put them in foster care (yes I know this causes more issues) but then they cant say they are punishing the kids by taking away what they need, but their parents lose out till they fix themselves.

1/26/2010 9:11:36 AM

Jesus. You people.

Do you really think that the poorest kids, who are forced to sign up for the free lunch because they're so poor, get bad grades because they get government handouts? Do you REALLY believe this?

1/26/2010 9:13:32 AM

no... who said that?

1/26/2010 9:15:13 AM

Obviously, the analogy made by the South Carolina lieutenant governor is stupid and wrong. And, apparently, he has already expressed regrets for the remark.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1446283.html

But why do you have to make it about the South, schmoe? As if there have never been race-related comments and problems in New York, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, and so on.

And have you heard of Joe Biden of Delaware?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIT3jUrNTX0

Or Harry Reid of Nevada?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8YNIp29r9Q

And so on.

1/26/2010 9:18:21 AM

Ahh, yes. Because making a comment about Indians working in convenience stores is the same as calling poor people animals and saying that they need their benefits cut as such.

1/26/2010 9:21:29 AM

Quote :

"no... who said that?"

South Carolina Lt. Governor Andre Bauer.

1/26/2010 9:23:02 AM

Plz to explain how me caring about the population of the world = racism?

Anyone having too many babies = overpopulation. This is a species problem, not a race problem. It has nothing to do with melanin levels in the skin or imaginary boundaries on the ground.

Quote :

"Do you really think that the poorest kids, who are forced to sign up for the free lunch because they're so poor, get bad grades because they get government handouts? Do you REALLY believe this?"

No, I think that we (humanity, but maybe starting with America) should help people from having too many children that they cannot support. "Handing birth control out like candy" seems like a good start. If "the poorest kids" were only children their parents would have more resources to raise them, teach them, and help them not "get bad grades". Or if parents that don't have the resources just didn't have children it wouldn't be a problem to begin with. And let's be clear since you assholes are all about calling racism: "resources" does not only mean money. And black people are not the only poor people. Money, time, compassion, willingness to discipline, and a lot more are needed to raise a child and if you lack any of these, you shouldn't be having them.

But again, as I have stated, we shouldn't punish children because their parents are idiots.

1/26/2010 9:24:24 AM

Quote :

""no... who said that?" "South Carolina Lt. Governor Andre Bauer.""

so this:

Quote :

"Jesus. You people. Do you really think that the poorest kids, who are forced to sign up for the free lunch because they're so poor, get bad grades because they get government handouts? Do you REALLY believe this?"

isn't directed at people in this thread? and I believe the Lt. Gov. was showing a correlation... He didn't say that receiving free lunch caused lower grades (at least this wasn't stated in what was posted here)

1/26/2010 9:28:15 AM

Quote :

"Plz to explain how me caring about the population of the world = racism? Anyone having too many babies = overpopulation. This is a species problem, not a race problem. It has nothing to do with melanin levels in the skin or imaginary boundaries on the ground."

A species problem, you're right! Maybe we should restrict breeding with these poorer animals in order to craft a better species. Forced sterilization, etc. We can even ship people off to.... wait... where am I going with this?

Quote :

""Handing birth control out like candy" seems like a good start."

Great, tell that to the Republicans. The same ones who complain about poor people breeding like animals also force abstinence only education in the same areas.

Quote :

"If "the poorest kids" were only children their parents would have more resources to raise them, teach them, and help them not "get bad grades". Or if parents that don't have the resources just didn't have children it wouldn't be a problem to begin with."

This happens in single child homes a well. Poor is poor, regardless.

Quote :

"And let's be clear since you assholes are all about calling racism: "resources" does not only mean money. And black people are not the only poor people. Money, time, compassion, willingness to discipline, and a lot more are needed to raise a child and if you lack any of these, you shouldn't be having them. "

Then why is it always rich White people complaining about this?

1/26/2010 9:28:53 AM

Quote :

"isn't directed at people in this thread?"

When you say, "It's true," it is.

Quote :

"and I believe the Lt. Gov. was showing a correlation... He didn't say that receiving free lunch caused lower grades (at least this wasn't stated in what was posted here)"

What sort of kickbacks would you recommend that an 8 year old have to pay to the government?

Furthermore, would you like to think of any other reasons why a poor kid, so poor that he can't even afford to pay for his lunch, would get bad grades in school? Or is he just lazy and unmotivated? And how would making him go hungry at lunch help his school performance?

1/26/2010 9:30:53 AM

Quote :

"Then why is it always rich White people complaining about this?"

first, define rich here. secondly, it's "rich" white people complaining because you lefties are stealing their money?

I said it's true and explained which part I was referring to....

as for kickbacks... was the article not about him saying the parents owe something... not the kids?

well I'm sure lazy and unmotivated crosses all economic groups. no one said make them go hungry.



[Edited on January 26, 2010 at 9:34 AM. Reason : .]

1/26/2010 9:30:56 AM

Quote :

"first, define rich here. secondly, it's "rich" white people complaining because you lefties are stealing their money?"

A rich White politician.

And no, no one is stealing their money. They became rich because of a system that gave them institutionalized benefits. It's time they gave back to help out their lesser man.

And as an aside, I find it hilariously hypocritical that most of these people ascribe to the Christian philosophy but cry so much when they learn that their money is being given to help out the less fortunate. Would Jesus complain about social programs?

Quote :

"as for kickbacks... was the article not about him saying the parents owe something... not the kids?"

Who suffers?

1/26/2010 9:35:22 AM

Sweet, quote war.

Quote :

"Forced sterilization, etc. We can even ship people off to.... wait... where am I going with this?"

I have no idea where you're going with this.

Quote :

"Great, tell that to the Republicans. The same ones who complain about poor people breeding like animals also force abstinence only education in the same areas."

Abstinence only education is total horseshit. I watched them tear the sex education pages out of the health books at my high school. Fuck any politician that is for this retarded policy.

Quote :

"This happens in single child homes a well. Poor is poor, regardless."

It still stands. More children = more resources needed. Less children = less resources. If you don't have enough then you shouldn't be having children. Hell, not having children would probably go a long way to giving you the time to build the resources to be able to have children successfully. Intelligent family planning is the answer, not breeding like rabbits and then trying to fix the problem afterwards.

Quote :

"Then why is it always rich White people complaining about this?"

Quote :

"Furthermore, would you like to think of any other reasons why a poor kid, so poor that he can't even afford to pay for his lunch, would get bad grades in school? Or is he just lazy and unmotivated? And how would making him go hungry at lunch help his school performance?"

How bout his poor parents have to work 2 jobs to keep food in his mouth and don't have the time or money to teach him outside of our horribly shitty public schools?

[Edited on January 26, 2010 at 9:37 AM. Reason : .]

1/26/2010 9:36:10 AM

Quote :

"I have no idea where you're going with this."

Quote :

"How bout his poor parents have to work 2 jobs to keep food in his mouth and don't have the time or money to teach him outside of our horribly shitty public schools?"

Exactly. So why are they poor lazy animals undeserving of handouts again?

1/26/2010 9:40:32 AM

How does "intelligent family planning" = nazi? I in no way support forced sterilization. I am in support of my taxes paying for voluntary birth control and greatly enhanced sex education and availability of birth control.

Quote :

"Exactly. So why are they poor lazy animals undeserving of handouts again?"

Quote :

"Bauer made the comment as part of an argument that people should lose government benefits if they fail drug tests or don't attend parent-teacher conferences or PTA meetings."

I think there should be some criteria, not just "you're poor, here's some money, keep having kids". If there was some way to punish the stupid parents without affecting the kids, but I doubt that's even possible. Therefore, the solution continues to be, help people not have children they can't support in the first place.

Keep helping existing people in this situation, but help them not have more children too. Give it one or two generations and we'll be in much better shape.

1/26/2010 9:50:42 AM

Godwin's Law!

1/26/2010 9:52:23 AM

I imagine that God is just like Gary the preacher, only God believes what he says is true.

And it's not only rich white people, my father, who is financially well-off, did not receive institutionalized benefits that provided his level of income. He started off working in a textile mill on 3rd shift. Over the years he worked hard and got promoted. His salary followed. Yet, you lefties call him evil and undeserving and wish to take his hard earned money and distribute it to others because they deserve it more.

but let me guess. your excuse is that since my dad is white he was promoted and given an unfairly high salary while the company's big men whipped and beat minorities who they paid by throwing a nickle at them every week?

[Edited on January 26, 2010 at 10:01 AM. Reason : ,]

1/26/2010 9:57:57 AM

He is republican and from South Carolina and white! He said something about black poor people! GODDAMN FUCKING RACIST!

Thank god all of us college students/grads are educated beyond the point of discrimination!

1/26/2010 10:06:45 AM

Kids get bad grades because they have horrible parents. Not everyone is qualified to be a parent. Yeah, I know BridgetSPK et al believe that everyone has the right to 5 kids and the government should pay for all of them. Some people just aren't good at raising children, and they're too stupid to understand the consequences of their actions.

People will say, "we shouldn't punish children for the actions of their parents." If you don't understand the concept of moral hazard, you will never be able to come up with good policies. As long as we have a system that rewards irresponsible behavior, you'll have a lot of people acting irresponsibly. Modern liberals reject the concept of moral hazard, for the most part. They think the people will simply behave the same no matter what government policies are. They think people will save and borrow at the same rate, regardless of interest rates. They think people will never take advantage of welfare if it's available, and that it will only benefit the "most needy," and the "less needy" will just work hard and not attempt to use welfare.

There is a balance that exists in nature where every animal must determine and evaluate potential threats. Fear of death and the will to survive have been guiding animals for millions of years. Fear overrides every instinct we have. The current system attempts to remove the component of consequence from human behavior. This distorts the economy horribly. People need to be fearful, because it drives them to act responsibly and prepare for unexpected events. When there is a safety net, people will act less responsibly and prepare less.

1/26/2010 10:09:07 AM

The Republicans are responsible for all things Nazi!

--Keith Olbermann and God

1/26/2010 10:20:08 AM

Quote :

"who hopes to succeed fellow Republican Mark Sanford as his state's governor, drew a comparison between government help for poor people and "feeding stray animals" – who, he noted, "breed.""

This may not be very "PC" but how can you deny that it is true. Humans are not exempt from all the same natural overpopulation issues that all other species face. Our one saving grace is that with our intelligence we are able to improve our environment to increase its carrying capacity slowly over time as technology improves.

As someone else said, yes republicans are just as easily to blame. Their fear of sex education, lack of willingness to subsidize birth control, and irrational belief that people will stop having pre-marital sex is contributing to the problem just as the liberal policies of eliminating any disincentive of irresponsible child bearing.

1/26/2010 10:22:33 AM

Quote :

"America is the wealthiest nation on Earth, but its people are mainly poor, and poor Americans are urged to hate themselves. To quote the American humorist Kin Hubbard, "It ain't no disgrace to be poor, but it might as well be." It is in fact a crime for an American to be poor, even though America is a nation of poor. Every other nation has folk traditions of men who were poor but extremely wise and virtuous, and therefore more estimable than anyone with power and gold. No such tales are told by the American poor. They mock themselves and glorify their betters. The meanest eating or drinking establishment, owned by a man who is himself poor, is very likely to have a sign on its wall asking this cruel question: "If you're so smart, why ain't you rich?" There will also be an American flag no larger than a child's hand–glued to a lollipop stick and flying from the cash register. Americans, like human beings everywhere, believe many things that are obviously untrue. Their most destructive untruth is that it is very easy for any American to make money. They will not acknowledge how in fact hard money is to come by, and therefore, those who have no money blame and blame and blame themselves. This inward blame has been a treasure for the rich and powerful, who have had to do less for their poor, publicly and privately, than any other ruling class since, say, Napoleonic times."

1/26/2010 10:31:50 AM

Quote :

"Humans are not exempt from all the same natural overpopulation issues that all other species face."

Bullshit. The more people on the planet the better off you will be in the long run. The more people we have, the more people we have working on the world's problems, be they scientists, entrepreneurs, or stand-up comedians.

But it is true that incentives matter. The more money people can earn from being government dependents, the more government dependents we will have. It is not that they are breeding like dogs, since it takes humans a relatively long time to breed, it is that workers are being paid to stay unproductive. It is the case that the working poor face effective marginal tax rates upwards of 60 to 80%, a substantial disincentive to improving their situation.

1/26/2010 11:13:11 AM

It would be far better to spend the extra money to properly educate their "excess" children now. It would cost more, but eventually their children will put more into the system then they take out. Combine that with the fact that they'll be better able to provide and foster their own childern, and you'll breed out the problem in a few generations.

1/26/2010 11:19:18 AM

No, see, because

fuck you, got mine.

1/26/2010 11:22:48 AM

Then you run into the problem in poorly educated communities where "learning" isn't cool. It's very rare for a kid to push themselves in school. It takes parents that are going to make them attend school, force them to do homework, and communicate with teachers. I went to Apex High, and as I'm sure was the case in most Wake County schools, the teachers were fine. There were still students that weren't interested in learning; they were there because they had to be there. Having good teachers, books, and facilities will never be enough. Education is not fun, and there has to be someone in a kid's life pushing them and holding them accountable.

1/26/2010 11:25:40 AM

Quote :

"Bullshit. The more people on the planet the better off you will be in the long run. The more people we have, the more people we have working on the world's problems, be they scientists, entrepreneurs, or stand-up comedians. "

I'm afraid I can't agree with this. Until we come up with matter replicators, we will always be subject to "not enough stuff". The more people we have the more people we have creating the world's problems, the more despots, the more criminals, the more mouths to feed. It goes both ways.

It is obvious that there is a finite amount of resources at a given time on this rock. It follows then that it can only support a finite amount of people to consume those resources. Whether we are currently at this limit is a matter of opinion. But if people keep creating more people willy nilly then the likelihood that we'll reach this limit is 1. Unless the matter replicators happen before that point.

1/26/2010 11:27:58 AM

^^Its going to require alot of work to get in there and fix those schools. Its probably going to require non-standard teaching methods and maybe other financial support for the families of the children. It can be done though.

By far the biggest problem is going to be resistance from local government who dont want to give up control over their fiefdom.

[Edited on January 26, 2010 at 11:29 AM. Reason : ^^]

1/26/2010 11:28:42 AM

Quote :

"Then you run into the problem in poorly educated communities where "learning" isn't cool."

Speculation.

Quote :

"It's very rare for a kid to push themselves in school. It takes parents that are going to make them attend school, force them to do homework, and communicate with teachers. I went to Apex High, and as I'm sure was the case in most Wake County schools, the teachers were fine. There were still students that weren't interested in learning; they were there because they had to be there. "

Anecdotal evidence and hyperbole. I imagine a majority of the students didn't drop out, though, which is much different from poorer schools.

But I guess that's because learning isn't "cool" among poor Black youths, right? They just want to do drugs and become gang bangers and listen to the rap music and have lots of kids.

1/26/2010 11:29:05 AM

You can give a man a fish and feed him for a day. You can teach a man to fish and feed him for a life time.

1/26/2010 11:36:11 AM

i wonder how long it will take until when someone brings up possible solutions to population problems and intelligent family planning without someone mentioning nazis. i think it will be the same time the small mustache is acceptable.

1/26/2010 11:51:29 AM

Quote :

" Speculation. "

FACT. You obviously do not have friends or parents who are teachers in public schools.

1/26/2010 12:16:30 PM

whether you agree with what he said or not, can we all agree that he is without a doubt a bumbling idiot for making those statements in public? if i were a SC voter, i wouldn't vote for him strictly on grounds that he doesn't think before he talks, and will likely make my state look like it's full of a bunch of backwards hicks.

i mean, anyone who agrees with these comments was likely going to vote for him anyway. no way these statements won him any new votes...

1/26/2010 12:19:49 PM

Quote :

"whether you agree with what he said or not, can we all agree that he is without a doubt a bumbling idiot for making those statements in public? if i were a SC voter, i wouldn't vote for him strictly on grounds that he doesn't think before he talks"

true

1/26/2010 12:22:41 PM

The best way to handle overpopulation is through individual responsible decision-making about procreation. If someone is incapable of this, and they pop out more babies than they can afford, the state should and does take the children.

However...

Right now, if they pop out more babies than they can afford, they get welfare money -- or additional welfare money if they already received it. This. This is total bullshit. If your irresponsible ass has kids when you shouldn't -- you should lose the kids at the first sign of trouble. You should NOT be "rewarded" with more "free money". Period.

1/26/2010 12:29:56 PM

yous best not be tukin my babies. i be workin hard since 15 to make my foo babies by time ize 22

[Edited on January 26, 2010 at 12:32 PM. Reason : h]

1/26/2010 12:32:24 PM

If you can't afford to raise and support your children properly, then you shouldn't have children. Really want children but can't afford it? Well there's your incentive to work harder and elevate your standard of living.

Unfortunately a lot of people are lazy and since the gov't is more than happy to provide money to them they don't care about improving their lives.


Is this a generalized statement? Sure, there are exceptions.

1/26/2010 12:34:03 PM