Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Cliven Bundy Is Not a "Welfare Queen"
Cliven Bundy Is Not a "Welfare Queen"
By Amanda Marcotte
Taking a swipe at Cliven Bundy by calling him a "welfare queen" made the leap from social media snarking to cable news on Thursday, when CNN anchor Bill Weir brought it up in an interview with Bundy. "You are writing off a whole class of people, African-Americans, as sort of dangerously dependent because they get government assistance," Weir stated. "At the same time, you’re grazing your cows on public land for free. So, how are you not sort of a welfare queen in a cowboy hat?"
Weir's analogy is deeply unfair to people on welfare in so many ways, starting with the myth that people on welfare are defrauding the government in the same way that Bundy is doing. While there are people who lie on food-stamp applications and there was that one lady who ran a major welfare fraud scheme four decades ago, the overwhelming majority of people who apply for government assistance are honest people who are just trying to survive. The rate of food-stamp fraud—which includes people lying on applications and selling food stamps for cash—is low, about a penny on every dollar spent on the program. Plus, people who do commit food-stamp fraud generally go to jail for it. They don't hole up in their homes with an illegal army of gun nuts while the right-wing media champions them for their anti-government activities.
~snip~
Weir no doubt meant well, but by invoking the image of the "welfare queen," he inadvertently reinforced the myth that people who turn to welfare are criminal, lazy, and dependent. You know, the exact myth that Bundy was leaning on to justify his insinuation that black people were better off under slavery. Government benefits are set up by the citizenry as a safety net we can all depend on if we fall down on our luck. Cliven Bundy, on the other hand, comes up with half-baked rationalizations for his desire to profit off stealing from the taxpayers. (...)
http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2014/04/25/cliven_bundy_is_not_a_welfare_queen_the_comparison_needs.htmlBy Amanda Marcotte
Taking a swipe at Cliven Bundy by calling him a "welfare queen" made the leap from social media snarking to cable news on Thursday, when CNN anchor Bill Weir brought it up in an interview with Bundy. "You are writing off a whole class of people, African-Americans, as sort of dangerously dependent because they get government assistance," Weir stated. "At the same time, you’re grazing your cows on public land for free. So, how are you not sort of a welfare queen in a cowboy hat?"
Weir's analogy is deeply unfair to people on welfare in so many ways, starting with the myth that people on welfare are defrauding the government in the same way that Bundy is doing. While there are people who lie on food-stamp applications and there was that one lady who ran a major welfare fraud scheme four decades ago, the overwhelming majority of people who apply for government assistance are honest people who are just trying to survive. The rate of food-stamp fraud—which includes people lying on applications and selling food stamps for cash—is low, about a penny on every dollar spent on the program. Plus, people who do commit food-stamp fraud generally go to jail for it. They don't hole up in their homes with an illegal army of gun nuts while the right-wing media champions them for their anti-government activities.
~snip~
Weir no doubt meant well, but by invoking the image of the "welfare queen," he inadvertently reinforced the myth that people who turn to welfare are criminal, lazy, and dependent. You know, the exact myth that Bundy was leaning on to justify his insinuation that black people were better off under slavery. Government benefits are set up by the citizenry as a safety net we can all depend on if we fall down on our luck. Cliven Bundy, on the other hand, comes up with half-baked rationalizations for his desire to profit off stealing from the taxpayers. (...)
13 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
I'm definitely adding that book to my reading list and will be recommending it to others.
If I could afford to, I'd send a copy to everyone of our representatives here in Nevada. 
Thanks again, villager! 
