Franson’s comments about food stamps stir controversy
March 5, 2012 at 11:10 am in Alexandria Echo Press
Comments that Representative Mary Franson, R-Alexandria, made about food stamps on a Friday video sparked a barrage of complaints even death threats. Continue Reading
I know where she’s coming from.
I got BLASTED once a while back when I tried to point out that Native American dependance (those who ARE dependant) on the government started back in the time when the US governmennt rounded them up, put them on reservations, and said don’t worry we’ll give you everything you need.
How’d that work out?
This is similar. I see no good outcome when ANYONE becomes dependant on the government to survive.
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I agree with Amos completely. NOTHING good has ever resulted from making large portions of the population totally dependent on the government for survival. The so-called Great Society has been a failure. Literally TRILLIONS of taxpayer dollars have been spent, and there is more poverty now than since the Great Depression.
I understand there are many millions on Welfare and food stamps who are there because of America’s unemployment and underemployment. Those who are really down and out through no fault of their own deserve as much help as we can provide. Those who continue to drop out of school, have countless babies out of wedlock with multiple partners are the biggest burden on society. They provide nothing, and they take everything they can.
The victims, of course, are the innocent children. But they, too, grow up in an environment of dependency. It is a vicious, self-perpetuating cycle.
That was the real meaning behind what Mary Franson was saying. She was in no way comparing people on food stamps with animals. Animals, when left alone to their own devices without a lot of free stuff, learn how to take care of themselves.
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I see some votes against me and against Amos. I do wonder if these people actually listened to everything Mary Franson said. The video may have been taken down, but the lowlifes at the far-left Daily KOS made a copy of it and posted the link on their Web site. Ms Franson was actually defending the plight of the poor. Pay attention and learn something.
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Does keeping only a portion of her statement so it’s incriminating/inflamatory count as manipulating? It does in my book.
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If they cut out remarks unrelated to that part of her video for bandwidth reasons, no. If they changed the meaning of it, yes. Considering that the post was pulled from the MN GOP, people who didn’t see the whole one there will never know.
To me it seemed more like a throwaway remark as part of her welfare reform comments that went astray–to put it mildly. Personally, I don’t care about that remark. It’s her claims about the budget that made me irritated.
Saying that the GOP brought about a surplus budget and claiming that it was a ‘DFL deficit’ ignores the fact that there was a GOP governor AND the increase in shifts from schools and borrowing against the tobacco settlement.
It’s that level of political lying about serious policy that makes me feel like she’s a huge drop-off in quality from Rep. Otremba. The state budget is still not structurally balanced and any improvement is from overall economic improvement and not the GOP’s ‘borrow more’ budgeting.
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LOL!
Nothing ever changes with this guy!
So worried about the negative votes…
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“Fergusun” that is.
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Can’t spell either, eh?
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Is she only advocating ending food stamp programs? What about unemployment benefits, farm and oil subsidies, taxpayer funding for stadiums, etc, etc? In each case it is money coming out of the pocket of one person and into the pocket of another.
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What? Where did Ms Franson ever even imply she was ” …advocating ending food stamp programs”? NOWHERE in her video. NOWHERE! Keep some focus, Ruth, and stick with the issue at hand. Making it look like something else or creating strawmen out of nothing is foolishness.
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Did you actually see the video and listen to each and every word of it, i94? I doubt it. I believe you are shooting blanks.
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So where did she say food stamp recipients are like animals? People and animals do respond to things similarly when there is no accountability. This is true of adults and children. Children who are given everything and coddled by their parents do not learn how to function on their own. Then, too, if there are no consequences for bad behavior, another layer of irresponsibility is added.
Dennis Dalman was wondering how to deal with a bunch of homeless cats. Don’t feed them. They will work things out on their own. It is simple instinct. It is survival of the fittest.
What happens when you put a bird feeder on your patio? You find there are more birds than you ever thought possible. Then they build nests nearby and dive at you when you are in the yard and on the patio. And they mess all over everything. What happens when you remove the bird feeder? They go off on their own – and probably find someone else to feed them. What did birds and other members of the animal kingdom do before man started feeding them? They found food in their natural surroundings. What did prehistoric man do? The foraged for food and hunted.
What should we be doing to help those who are on food stamps and unemployed? Help them to find work and get off food stamps.
Is that so difficult to comprehend? Is that calling people animals?
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Perhaps we can apply Rep. Franson’s logic to corporate welfare as well! Considering that it has taken almost 3 years to get unemployment back down under 8.5%, the time limit seems arbitrary.
That said, there will always be a certain amount of lazy people among us. Look at your workplace and you’ll see at least a few.
The welfare ‘hammock’ doesn’t provide a lot of cash–nor should it. Most states have kept cash assistance flat for a long amount of time. It’s healthcare that is the main driver in welfare spending.
The conservative Heritage Foundation’s 2012 Index of Dependence on Government analyzed data but wasn’t very helpful because it combined Welfare and Health Care without breaking out welfare separately.
The one point it made on welfare itself was stating that the Obama administration did cash grants to states with higher numbers one welfare. Considering the rise in unemployment in 2008 to early 2009, sending states more money to cover the larger number of people out of work made sense.
Here’s a look at sample MN numbers, courtesy of the Minn Post this morning in comments from Commissioner Jesson: Currently a family of one unemployed adult with no other income and two children receives $532 in cash and $473 in food support monthly, she says.
Facts about MN Welfare:
https://edocs.dhs.state.mn.us/lfserver/Public/DHS-4737-ENG
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You’re right, Goser. (I even gave you a thumbs-up). Let’s start with all these “green” companies that take a big helping of government largesse, pay their executives huge bonuses and then declare bankruptcy.
There is indeed an irony in the story Franson was repeating from someone else. But I think the salient point here is that institutionalized welfare–and don’t deny its existence–is a failing of our culture. And it’s a tough, tough problem, because as a wealthy society we have a legitimate concern that people do not suffer. Yet our well-intentioned efforts can have a deleterious effect on the very people we’re trying to help.
Yes, $532 in cash every month isn’t much, but when combined with all the other welfare programs in place, is it really all that little? Isn’t it, in fact, a viable lifestyle? It must be, because it has repeated itself generation after generation.
Apparently, maximizing welfare benefits has become a job for a lot of people as we see EBT transactions galore in places like Chicago on the tab of Minnesota taxapayers. That’s not right and I’m glad to see that the legislature is finally adressing it.
I don’t proclaim to have all the answers, but I think that we have been going about this all wrong for a very long time.
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Mr Ferguson thinks my post was “foolishness” but the point that I think M.Franson was trying to make is that someone that expects government assistance is a never ending cycle. That does include some that maybe could find work but would rather take unemployment (that does not include all, some are seriously looking and can’t find anything). It also includes farmers and oil companies that could make it on their own but still want the subsidies and billionaire stadium owners that stand there with their hands out waiting for taxpayers to fund them. In each case the money is coming from one person and given to another Often the one giving the money is in no better shape than the one taking it. We need to take a good look at all government programs, not just welfare.
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Pay attention, Ruth. Ms Franson was attacked by The Daily KOS and the Huffington Post for her comments on FOOD STAMPS! She was not addressing farm subsidies or anything else that provoked the ire of these publications and individuals. She WAS NOT calling people animals. She allegedly received death threats for her comments.
That was the subject of this editorial. Stick to it, or write your own letter to the editor to vent your own displeasure with other things.
Once again, she was in no way implying that we need to terminate the food stamp program either. That was just your spin on things.
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Ruth I agree with some of your comments but if you fund a stadium it wont multiply by itself
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Maybe you should get out there and protest in front of her residence on Saturday – with all of the hate-filled locals. By saying you were not so stupid as to vote for her you are implying that all those who did vote for her ARE stupid. Those ‘stupid’ people there in District 11b did comprise the majority of voters, did they not?
You say of her, “What an uptight, insensitive politician! Even if she has a good point she destroyed it by communicating it in an unthoughtful way. We need representation that is more deliberative in their communication. We deserve better!”
What, exactly, flags her as ‘uptight’, ‘insensitive’ or ‘unthoughtful’? Would you care to define the choice of adjectives you used? I didn’t think so.
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Oh honey, you did not give me enough time to respond. Unlike some I do not spend all my waking hours in front of my computer counting votes and arguing with other posters. I will get back to you soon. I need to run quick! Ta Ta!
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If anyone thinks that food stamps and welfare don’t become a way of life should take a look at the 24 year old woman who won a million dollars on the lotter (a little more than half a million lump sum and after taxes). She continued to receive food stamps and felt she was entitled because she “had bills”. She owns two houses and a new car. The latest is that her food stamps have been cut off now. She is not the only lottery winner who continued to get food stamps. That makes the rest of us feel really good doesn’t it? And how is that a food stamp recipient has money to buy lottery tickets? Way too many scammers in these programs.
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A friend in Minnesota sent me the following link:
http://www.twincities.com/ci_20134238/fransons-comments-comparing-food-stamp-recipients-animals-draw
Most people commenting on the item support Representative Franson. Just saying …..
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