“Clean Your Plate…There Are Starving Children in America”

 Says parents in other developed countries across the world

Whilst perusing the internet I came across an alarming trend in cities across the US: bans on the feeding of homeless people. You think I’m joking? I wish I was. It sounds like something we’d expect from other countries like…nowhere else, ever. We spend billions in aid to assist “developing nations” across the world, in hopes of supplying them with education, food, medical assistance, and democracy – yet more than 50 million Americans (including myself) are uninsured, our public education system has quickly eroded over the last decade (in my opinion due to the coveted “No Child Left Behind Act”, but that’s for another discussion) and poverty in America is at an all time high in decades. As the federal government looks to cut back on social programs such as welfare and food stamps, the local governments are implementing budget cuts for education and prohibiting the homeless from being fed by charitable citizens who want to help a fellow countryman. 

While I was living in Philadelphia last year for 10 months, a few things happened. A homeless shelter that housed up to 300 men was shut down apparently due to lack of funding. African-American, democrat Mayor Michael Nutter implemented a law banning the feeding of homeless people in public parks and the Ben Franklin Parkway, because he claimed it made the city lose dignity. Philadelphia also initiated shutting down dozens of schools over the next two years. According to this Article “Philadelphia's School Reform Commission voted…to close 23 city schools and merge or relocate five others” for the coming 2013-2014 school year. This means more than 14,000 inner city students are at risk of going from a mediocre educational atmosphere to one that would be abysmal at best since thousands of teachers will be laid off, resources will dwindle and class sizes will increase. Also a few years before I moved to Philadelphia, Mayor Nutter attempted to shut down 11 of the cities libraries, and lay off many librarians, but thankfully his efforts were thwarted by a City Council with common sense. 

What I gather from the leadership in Philadelphia is they don’t want educated citizens (trying to close down libraries and schools), they want homeless people to go hungry (banning people from feeding them in public locations), they want homeless people out of the shelters, which costs money and perhaps into prisons, which would make money. This spring the Philadelphia powers that be announced the city would spend $2.3 million on land acquisition for a new prison. It was reported that mid April the prison system was holding 8,897 people, when it was built to hold only 6,500 inmates. Instead of educating the youth of Philadelphia and providing programs to support those in need, Philadelphia has made minority groups and those in in the lower socioeconomic bracket a cash cow for big businesses that thrive in the correctional facility industry.

Thurman Kirby (58) is a man who ended up in the now shut down Philadelphia men’s shelter after having two strokes, and barely making ends meet on a monthly social security disability check. According to This Article “Kirby applied at the Philadelphia Housing Authority for a Section 8 rent subsidy, but was told the wait would be years. The list for public housing was even longer. "We can't get proper housing, so how can we move out?" he said.” I tried to find his whereabouts online, but I was not successful. I can only assume he is either on the streets or in the prison system, unless his luck turned around and he somehow managed to get on his feet (we can only hope). The shelters are being shut down, and homeless people are being denied the access to food by gracious individuals and organizations because the government doesn’t want the city to lose dignity. I would say the city of brotherly love has just shown how unbrotherly they really are. 

Philadelphia is not the only American city to ban the feeding of the homeless in public areas. In 2006, Las Vegas became the first major US city to pass a law like this, and for the record, Las Vegas’ homeless population has doubled in the past decade to about 12,000 people.  According to this New York Times article the Las Vegas ordinance bans the “providing of food or meals to the indigent for free or for a nominal fee.” It then explains that “an indigent person is a person whom a reasonable, ordinary person would believe to be entitled to apply for or receive [public assistance].” How could one define an ordinary person? I know I am not ordinary by any means. I am also not destitute. As a teacher, after being taxed by the city of Philadelphia, PA, NJ and federal taxes, as well as paying expenses necessary to live, I was lucky to have $30 in my pocket at the end of each month. Then I either spent my savings on my students or my foster kittens. Violating Las Vegas’ anti-homeless ordinance by providing food of any kind to a person deemed “indigent” is punishable by a fine of $1,000 or a jail sentence of up to 6 months...or both. Bingo! The city is cashing in on people’s good will by either making them pay for a permit to feed the homeless, or the alternative of making them pay a fine, or go to jail. Hello new source of revenue, how are you today? 

The city of Orlando, Florida, home of Walt Disney World, aka the “happiest place on Earth” also enacted a law in 2006 that mandated permits for groups distributing food in parks within two miles of City Hall.  In 2011, twelve members of a food activist group called “Food Not Bombs” were arrested in Orlando “for giving free food to groups of homeless people in a downtown park” because they were “acting in defiance” of the city ordinance. According to the law, “Each group is allowed two permits per park per year” and Food Not Bombs had exceeded their permit limit, so by setting up their food tables for the homeless they were breaking the law and risked being swept away to prison. 

“I’m here because I murdered someone, what are you in for?”

"I’m here because I gave a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to the homeless”

"Oh, you’re a danger to society! Stay away from this guy!”

As major cities across America (such as the cities I mentioned above, and also Dallas, Houston, New York City, etc.) are increasingly preventing kind souls from feeding the homeless in parks or other locations a larger problem is brewing. 

Food stamps are a thing of the past. The US government now has a program cleverly referred to as “SNAP”, or the more long winded version known as the “Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program,” which supplies debit cards instead of stamps or coupons. Last week the Farm Bill, which incorporates how the SNAP program functions was heavily debated. Ultimately, the House bill is now going to be cut by $2.5 billion a year, which is about a 3% trimming of the program. This program is relied upon by about 1 in 7 Americans, and now as many as three million Americans in need would be cut off from food assistance. According to Dorothy Rosenbaum and Stacy Dean of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, these major cuts will "cause significant hardship to several million low-income households," including “280,000 children from low-income families [who] will lose access to free school lunch.” Entirely due to the plummeting economy over the last several years, the number of people who have relied on food stamps (SNAP) increased 70% only since 2007.  After voting to drastically slash the budget for SNAP Rep. Reid Ribble (that is seriously his name!), a republican from Wisconsin said, "I want poor people to have food…I want children to eat well." He certainly has a funny way of showing it!

Speaking of children eating well, Arizona Rep. Jeff Flake, personally benefited from social programs to assist the poor as he was growing up. He was a recipient of the National School Lunch Program. Flake just so happened to be one of five members of congress to vote against “reauthorizing funds for childhood nutrition programs” in 2004. Now here’s the All-American dream...grow up as a poor southern boy, work hard, become a politician to help serve those who don’t have a voice by being a civil servant, and then take away the very avenues you had to thrive in becoming a productive member of society. What you don’t have makes you stronger, right Flakey boy? Such as a nutritious lunch provided for you by the government. His government funded school lunches allowed him to fully function in school, so he could go on and attend a Mormon college. Flake’s Mormon views have no doubt been the backbone for his embarrassing voting record of trying to amend the U.S. Constitution to ban same-sex marriage (because it’s against the Book of Mormon!) and trying to ban the feeding of poor, hungry school children like he once was. I haven’t read the Book of Mormon, but a quick Google search showed it was not against the Mormon religion to feed poor children. 

Rep. Juan Vargas, a democrat from California used the Christian rhetoric that we often hear from Conservatives against liberals by quoting the Bible in opposing their insistence upon slashing a program that millions in America rely upon. Vargas quoted the Book of Matthew by saying, "When I was hungry you gave me food. When I was thirsty, you gave me drink." I can only imagine he did this to try and use the same jargon Conservatives utilize for every other social issue at hand (Gay people are bad because the bible says so!..Sexism is okay because the Bible says so!..Americans deserve their right to bear arms because the bible says so?...)

During the discussion of not being responsible for the poor in America, several Republicans talked about their Christianity and said “the Bible encourages people to help each other but doesn't dictate what the federal government should do.” Doug LaMalfa, a California rep. went on to say "We should be doing this as individuals helping the poor." I would say this is hypocrisy in the purist form. If this is so, then individuals should be able to feed the homeless…and the governments should stay out of it. The Bible does not specify word for word that the American Federal government should help thy neighbor; therefore, the American Federal government will not help thy poor neighbor/constituents. Unlike what most Christian Americans would like to believe, the Bible was not written for just Americans, as a matter of fact the USA was not in existence when the Bible was created. Side note: Jesus wasn’t White! (*gasp*)

Rep. Jim McGovern, a democrat from Massachusetts said, "Christians, Jews, Muslims, whatever - we're failing our brothers and sisters here.” No kidding.

Don’t ask don’t tell: Don’t ask me not to feed homeless people, and then tell me you won’t do it because only individuals should be helping the poor and not the government. 

OxyMORON. 

Whichever way you look at it, the government is trying to prevent poor people from receiving food they need to survive. Whether through individuals, groups or government aid, there are people who need help. Making it illegal for people to help, alongside government cuts to food assistance programs can be likened to handing out a death sentence or paving the way to life in prison for stealing a loaf of bread. 24601

For more information about Poverty in America, and how the government is doing nothing to help the issue check out this site: 100 Million Poor People In America And 39 Other Facts About Poverty That Will Blow Your Mind

Democrat and Republican Homolitical Issues

Both major American political parties love to spend their free time pointing fingers at each other as if their pissing match would result in some kind of Olympic medal. Throughout the history of politics in America, especially in the last few decades, I think both parties are at fault for some rather shady stuff. Both jackass and elephant presidents are rife with scandals in American history. Just to name a few in recent history:  JFK’s (D) numerous known affairs, Richard Nixon’s (R) Watergate Scandal, Ronald Reagan’s (R) Iran-Contra scandal, and Bill Clinton’s (D) Monica Lewinsky Affair, which allowed him to join Andrew Johnson as only the second president to be impeached (what an accolade). 

Whether you watch Fox News or a more liberally biased network like CNN or NBC, there is no shortage of politicians attempting to cockblock the contemporary civil rights movement of our time: homosexual rights. 

The problem I have with these opponents is that while many stand on their soap box with the Bible in one hand, they have their other hand deep inside the closet grabbing at all sorts of proverbial genitalia. For once, this is not a one party issue. It is a bipartisan issue where both parties can humbly admit to having these indiscretions.

Democrat ex New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey is one of my favorite examples of hypocrisy in politics. Only when faced with an embarrassing lawsuit from his ex boytoy did McGreevey announce in the summer of 2004 that he is a gay American. As McGreevey was lobbying against gay folks in the public arena, privately he was having an adulterous affair with a gay man. According to This CNN Article, about six months prior to his public admission he “created same-sex domestic partnerships in New Jersey, but urged New Jersey officials to abide by current laws when the city of Asbury Park issued a marriage license to a same-sex couple in May [2004].” I take no pity on a man who was in a powerful position to push for legislation supporting gay rights, and chose not to, even though he claims he’s known he was gay since childhood. His famous coming out/resignation speech included this tear jerker realization, "At a point in every person's life, one has to look deeply into the mirror of one's soul and decide one's unique truth in the world, not as we may want to see it or hope to see it, but as it is…And so, my truth is that I am a gay American." Good for you. I am glad that the inner fabulous in you can now break free. I hope one day you can marry your now current male partner…but it won’t be in New Jersey. No thanks to you.

Former (Republican) California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a same-sex marriage bill in 2005 and 2007. He ultimately terminated (you see what I did there?) any chance homosexual Californian citizens had in obtaining equal rights. His reasoning was due to the fact of him wanting to preserve “traditional family values.” While talking with a Swedish newspaper this winter he said, “I have four wonderful children...well, actually I have five.” During his twenty-five year marriage to Maria Shriver he fathered four children with her, as well as a secret love child with his maid, Mildred Baena (YOLO). I didn’t realize that traditional family values included adultery, cover ups, dishonesty, pay offs and fathering a bastard son. Perhaps those are traditional values in Austria, but those certainly are not All-American values. (Or are they?) During his stint in the governor's office he said, “I think that gay marriage should be between a man and a woman." This body builder should stick to his brawn, and not rely on his brains, because arguably both his little brain and big brain have gotten him into some hot water these days. Next time he wants to impose his family values on others I think his illegitimate son should be a stark reminder of his own broken moral compass.  

In case you need the lewd imagery

Ex Republican Spokane (Washington State) Mayor Jim West worked tirelessly to eradicate any and all gay rights in his community. He supported a ludicrous bill to ban gays and lesbians from working in daycare centers, schools, and some state agencies. He also supported a bill that obstructs the state from circulating brochures informing citizens how to protect themselves from HIV/AIDS. He attempted to propose that, "any touching of the sexual or other intimate parts of a person amongst teens [become] a criminal act.” It was later discovered by a local newspaper that for 25 years West was having sexcapades with boys and young men from his community. He was also a frequent patron of gay.com. It was alleged that he offered young men, whom he found online, jobs within the city in exchange for sexual favors. It is a shame that this charlatan was not alive in 2012 to see the state of Washington pass a same sex marriage bill; West passed away of colon cancer in 2006 (karma?).

Our most obvious front runner as the first successful female presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, has been quite the flip flopper on the issue of gay rights. In a 2007 ABC News interview, Hillary Clinton spoke about the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy that her widely well-known unfaithful husband, former President Bill Clinton, implemented. During the interview Hillary Clinton finally admitted that “the policy was no longer applicable, and that openly homosexual service members should be allowed to serve in the military.” She went on to say, “We are being deprived of thousands of patriotic men and women who want to serve their country who are bringing skills into the armed services that we desperately need.” I am not sure why this change in heart occurred, but bravo for coming around. I hope if she makes it as the first lady president, then she will find a strapping young male intern to frolic with – tit for tat, Billy-boy. 

Clearly both democrats and republicans have "dropped the ball"

As I just mentioned, former (Democrat) President Bill Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act into law in 1996 during his re-election campaign (I can only assume to appease the conservative democrat voters).  Clinton recently wrote a Washington Post op-ed piece urging its repeal or overturning it by the U.S. Supreme Court. How convenient. Now that he is no longer in any political position to actively persuade congress he is willing to be more liberal. Once he’s out of the highest and most powerful position arguably on the planet he is willing to make a useful and honest decision. Stereotypical politician. He and Hillary have come to the realization that like them, other couples should have the opportunity to express their love through extramarital affairs. How progressive. 

Ex Vice President Dick Cheney, who has a lesbian daughter, was asked by ABC News' Jonathan Karl in July 2012 if he wished he had actively lobbied more for same-sex marriage. Cheney’s response… "Why?" Now here is a man who any daughter would be proud to call their father (sense the sarcasm). 

Ohio Republican senator, Rob Portman is among the more recent flip flops in congress. After revealing that his college aged son is gay he wrote in the Columbia Dispatch, "I have come to believe that if two people are prepared to make a lifetime commitment to love and care for each other in good times and in bad, the government shouldn't deny them the opportunity to get married." So laws can arbitrarily be passed to prevent people from expressing their love through marriage, unless those laws negatively impact the law maker’s family members. Democracy at its best. 

The litany of insular politicians who have been caught with their hands either on their own privates or on others while in office is probably endless. Just like Obama, everyone has the right to “evolve” in their opinions in regards to those living a more flamboyant lifestyle than their own. My problem with those evolving people is the fact that unless their infidelities, closeted behavior or homo family members are exposed then they will continue to reign their prejudicial tyranny in congress. 

When will a US president finally step up and lead the country into the 21^st century? When will law makers consistently do what is right for the advancement of human rights? Right now many countries seem much more advanced than the US when it comes to basic human rights. We would like to believe that our government will pass laws, which allow its people to thrive. They can do this by getting their hands out of their pants and start shaking hands to promote a better future—but please wash your hands and zip up your pants first.

*For a humorous read of the Top 15 Anti-gay Activists caught being gay click here*