Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Jesse Kremer Did Not Get The Memo

By Jeff Simpson 

A quick check of Representative Jesse Kremer's official facebook page and you run into this picture he posted.



As a Christian and practicing Lutheran/Catholic I appreciate that.  Then continuing to scroll up the page and in what seems like Bizarro Christianity, this comes up.

Ever wonder why we need a "Public Benefit Reform" committee?
This receipt, mailed to me by an observant Kewaskum voter, details nearly $500 in food stamp purchases just before Christmas... must have been quite a party!
Need I say more? (Last time I had lobster was in the sandbox of Kuwait, probably because it was plentiful in the mercury infested gulf.)
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Two lobster at $21.99 ea.
Meat Dept. item for $70.70
Another Meat Dept. item for $33.38
Another Meat Dept. item for $67.56
3# Ground Round for $24.98
Beef Chuck Roast for $24.00
Total bill: $633.28. Total paid out of pocket? $36.77!
 

Wait wha???  One of these things is NOT like the other.   For one we do not even know if this receipt is real as fakes like this have been floating around forever trying to justify "public benefit reform".

The concept of the food-stamp queen was first proffered by Ronald Reagan during a 1976 campaign speech. "In Chicago, they found a woman who holds the record," he told the assembled crowd. "She used 80 names, 30 addresses, 15 telephone numbers to collect food stamps, Social Security, veterans’ benefits for four nonexistent deceased veteran husbands, as well as welfare. Her tax-free cash income alone has been running $150,000 a year." Reagan's story turned out to be a gross exaggeration of a minor case of welfare fraud, but since their patron saint conjured her up, conservatives have been unable to rid themselves of the image of the food-stamp queen. And despite her nonexistence, they've tried over and over again to stamp her out.
Putting aside what "saint" Ronnie (The patron Saint of racism) had to say, let's check what the Good Book has to say:

Matthew 25:37-40Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

Proverbs 14:31
Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him.

Proverbs 22:9Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor.
That has to be a typo....a mistake that didn't get caught by the editor and publisher right?   Well no,

Proverbs 19:17
Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.

Job 31:16-21
“If I have withheld anything that the poor desired, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail, or have eaten my morsel alone, and the fatherless has not eaten of it (for from my youth the fatherless grew up with me as with a father, and from my mother's womb I guided the widow), if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing, or the needy without covering, if his body has not blessed me, and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep, ...

Leviticus 19:10-11 

And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am theLord your God. “You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one another.

Wow lots of focus on treating the poor and hungry well but I can not seem to find anything about judging people you know nothing of without any information.   I did find this one though:



1 John 3:17-18 

But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

Interesting reading the Bible can be!   Besides small Government Jesse Kremer did not tell us in his post what foods poor people should be allowed to eat and which ones they should not.  Who knows better what food you should buy and cook for your family than Jesse Kremer.   If people are poor its their own choice and the best way to deal with it is not legislatively but public shaming of course!

And that is what we are saying, when we talk disdainfully about poor people buying lobster and steak, or nice phones, or new clothes. We are saying, you are not sorry and ashamed enough. You do not hate your poor existence enough. Because when you are poor, you are supposed to take the help that is never enough and stretch it so you have just enough misery to get by. Because when you are poor you are supposed to eat ramen every day and you are supposed to know that every bite of that nutrition-less soup is your punishment for bad life decisions. Your kids are supposed to be mocked at school for their outdated clothes—how else will they know to not end up like you when they grow up?
And for heaven’s sake, the last thing you should be allowed to do is to take one evening with your kids to sit at a table and eat a dish of pure indulgence in the hopes that your children will have a few minutes to feel the same way you did when you were a kid and you weren’t ashamed to exist.

2 comments:

  1. Jeff, you accidentally listed yourself as "Jesse Kremer" in the first line of your blog post. Other than that, fantastic blog post!

    ReplyDelete
  2. The god of Scott Walker & the teabaggin' bible also told scotty to run for president -- divine direction and that is from scotty himself.

    We know how that turned out. He still cannot pay off his bills!

    That god that talks to scotty sure has a funny sense of humor...

    ReplyDelete