No More Food Stamps ! Let the Unemployed Eat Cake

Commentary by
Patrick McCormick
10/9/2010

"More food stamps or more paychecks"; reportedly is the question former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich asks his fellow Republicans.

I recently saw several news articles. I read them, and then I hung my head in shame. Then I got angry. (ABC article), (Politico Article) and (Business week) The article in Politico was the worst.

It appears to me Newt Gingrich believes that unemployed poor people are the cause of America’s financial problems and the Democrats are forcing them to take food stamps because that is the way to enslave them. Newt evidently fails to comprehend the reality of being laid off, unable to feed your family or pay your mortgage. The Public Assistance Program feeds millions of hungry desperate people that would not eat otherwise. America gives aide all around the world, why is it wrong to help our own people during difficult economic times?  What is the Republican alternative, cut off the assistance program while they are trying to rebuild our economy? Maybe he, along with fellow Republicans, believe "Hunger and starvation are great motivators".

Newt also laments the nation’s abandonment of the “Trickle down theory”. He believes things were great back in the Reagan years. Were they really? I was a survivor of that financial adventure. I called it the “Tinkle on theory” It followed this logical path, “If you set a great feast for the wealthy, the workers will get fat on what falls from their table”. In all fairness, it was demeaning but it worked, sort of. When our big companies were running full bore all of their workers brought home a paycheck and paid huge federal income taxes. There was plenty of “Trickle” to go around.

Contemplating today’s reality, I have to ask, “Where is the wisdom in returning to that outdated policy”. Our manufacturing jobs have moved to China and Japan. Our customer service centers are located in India and Pakistan. Most of that great “Tinkle” will fall on foreign workers when we "Stimulate" U.S. Corporations to produce. Millions of Americans will still be out of work, and if Newt has his way, out of food as well. Let’s quote a famous French woman, Marie Antoinette, ”Let them eat cake”.

There is a bright side. After the GOP eliminates the illegal aliens, we could give all of their really low paying jobs to the poor. Without Public Assistance, anyone refusing to work would simply have to starve to death, women and children first.

Of course, I’m being satirical, but the resemblance to the old classic, “Les Miserables”, is striking. Actually, Newt would cast well as “Javet”. Persecuting the poor would be a great role for him to play. It sounds like he is reading for the part now.

Realistically, I think he, and any candidates that follow his advice, may well need new careers. According to the news website Politico, Gingrich sent a memo to GOP candidates Tuesday suggesting that they frame the election as a "vivid contrast" between the policies of food stamps vs. jobs. In the memo, he links to this recent news of the record 41.3 million Americans receiving federal food aid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to our failing economy.


Does the GOP understand, thanks to Bush Administration programs, the poor are a rapidly growing part of the population that far outnumber Newt’s wealthy constituency? Americas’ new poor and downtrodden are still allowed the right to vote and this could cause a problem for all Republican candidates. Even the homeless will resist if you push them far enough. I can’t conceive of voting for anyone that has their foot on the back of my neck.

I must agree that job creation will lift our economy by the boot straps. It is the secret ingredient for our financial recovery. Perhaps, we could apply Newt’s theory slowly. Every time the private sector creates one new job, one person can get off food stamps. Wait a minute, isn’t that the way the Public Assistance program is supposed to work?

Newt Gingrich has taken a position that clearly illustrates the divide between Republicans and Democrats and the clash between workers and the poor against the wealthy. His latest statement shows a heartless ignorance of the plight of many Americans and a refusal to “Think out of the box” and seek new strategies. His solution is simply to orchestrate a return to the good old days. There is no longer a place for his antiquated ideas and callous philosophy in the US of A.

Republicans caused the problem. They dumped that problem in President Obama’s lap. Then, instead of working together to repair our damaged economy, they tried to thwart anything the Democrats attempted to do to fix the problems. Now they sit on their sanctimonious posteriors and criticize them for not saving US from failed Republican financial policies. Something is very wrong with that picture. It reeks of hypocrisy.


The Statue of Liberty stands, as an advertisement for the world's poor and downtrodden. It offers sanctuary and hope to millions of people that have none. Does that offer still stand? Is America still that land of opportunity? Do we still offer a helping hand to the troubled masses of the world; even our own? Or should we tear that old antique down and send its metal and concrete to a landfill?  

If millions of our citizens weren’t hungry and in need of federal assistance, Newt would be a funny man. I, for one, am not laughing.