STUNNING poverty in John Boehner's district......

[AmBlue]

I hated snipping even one paragraph of this article. It is horrifying to ponder that this is the man in the seat of power in our House of Representatives. How do these people sleep at night?

********************

Poverty in John Boehner's District
Greg Kaufmann
April 11, 2011

<snip>

Indeed in 2009, childhood poverty rose over six points in the Boehner district to reach 19.1 percent, or 29,173 kids. Overall, 14 percent of Boehner’s constituents live below the federal poverty line of $22,400 per year for a family of four. Shared Harvest’s work has more than doubled—it distributed approximately 7 million pounds of food in 2007, and 16 million pounds in 2010.

<snip>

“These are kids ages three to twelve who are at a critical point in their brain development and need adequate nutrition,” says Osso. “We’re only in eleven of the forty-eight school districts in our territory and we now serve about 2,100 children a week. It’s stunning.”

<snip>

Osso has a history of reaching out to Boehner to try to get him to understand his constituents’ needs, beginning in the mid-1990s, when he was Chairman of the House Republican Conference. She attempted unsuccessfully to involve him in work on a “trigger mechanism” policy to potentially raise funding for an Emergency Food Assistance Program that hadn’t seen an increase in thirteen years. More recently, she wrote Boehner a letter describing the impact Republican cut proposals would have on seniors in his district. Shared Harvest provides 1,750 senior citizens a monthly box of food, at $20 per box, through the Commodity Supplemental Food Program. The need is far greater, however, and Osso writes of seniors routinely reading the obituaries to see if a participant has passed away, thereby opening a slot. The House Republican cuts would result in 500 current participants being removed from the program.

“How do I go about doing that?” she asks the Speaker. “Explaining that they will have to go hungry because of a budget deficit?”

http://www.thenation.com/blog/159861/poverty-john-boehners-district

[sakabatou]

1. Boehner: Let them eat cake!

[rucky]

15. they would if they could.

[polichick]

2. Country Club Republicans like Boner think people are poor because...

...they're lazy - he doesn't give a shit.

[rfranklin]

6. They don't believe that deep down, but it sure helps to assuage the guilt...

blame the victim of your crime--it's a classic compensation technique. I had to rape her because her skirt was short. I had to take his money, it was just sitting there on the desk. I had to beat up that queer, he wanted to have sex with me. Et cetera.

[hedgehog]

3. I live in a small town where the blocks of old houses now converted to rentals

are only a half mile from recently built developments. The kids from all the neighborhoods end up in the same junior high and high school. You can't miss the disparity in incomes here. I bet in Boehner's district, the poor and the middle class never encounter each other in daily life.

[Angry Dragon]

4. the weeping boner has only tears for himself

I would like to see him try to live on $24,000/yr, just by himself

His salary is 9 times the poverty level

can't let poverty get in the way of his golf ........ the guy is without shame or morals ...... no soul resides in that orange body

[Zoeisright]

5. Since he has no conscience and no soul, I'm sure he sleeps well.

I only wish there was a hell so he could burn in it.

[FSogol]

16. +1. Boehner has no conscience. n/t

[snappyturtle]

7. Boehner is only concerned with voting for the lobbyists not for his

constituents. According to the article, invites to Boehner to visit the poverty up close and personal have failed. Shameful.

[AmBlue]

8. If only people elected to Congress....

Were required to live for one week in the lives of their poorest constituents. Perhaps then they might understand.

[OHdem10]

9. When are we going to absorb and intellectualize one fact:

Poverty is not a concern of the Republican Party.

At least know you see it in concrete terms. How
long has Boehner been in Congress? He never promises
them anything so there can be no broken promises.

What no seems to get is the Republican World View?
It is kinda like an aristocracy--Upper Class and
Very Rich hold the power and then there are the
rest of us. Pretty much your status is of your
own making. If you are poor, it is pretty much
your own fault. You will never make a conservative
feel guilty. They purged the Moderate Republicans.

In order not to be absolutely heartless, they will
help the Poorest of the Poor. They want to have
proof that you are really as poor as you say and
are not trying to rip off the system.

They have been able to spread this since Regan Adm.

Check out other Republican's districts and states.

[AngryOldDem]

10. And like most of Southern Ohio...

...his district will be solidly GOP until Christ comes again, even though to be so is increasingly NOT in their best interests.

[sasha031]

11. what is really pathetic is these are the people who vote for him

[OHdem10]

13. What boils my blood more---Conservative Democrats

also have some very poor constituents. They were
chaffing at the bit to cut the deficit. They too
look out for upper income Dems and Republicans
in their districts.

[in_cog_ni_to]

12. They really do lack the empathy gene.

<snip>
Like other advocates, her frustration with the budget debate is palpable.

“It’s not just the cuts to the programs that we manage. It’s the overall meanness of this budget that targets the most vulnerable populations in our country—the weakest and the ones with the smallest voice,” she says.

Despite years of frustration in trying to get Boehner to respond to his constituents who are struggling, Osso hasn’t entirely given up, and she still has a message for him.

“We just want you to meet your constituents who are involved in making sure their neighbors have enough to eat, and we want you to meet those neighbors who are suffering silently behind closed doors. They are so embarrassed to be hungry,” she says. “We’re fighting each other over crumbs when we should be seeing each other for who we are and working together.”

[w8liftinglady]

14. this is common in Texas districts,as well.

Let them eat cake, y'all.

[lapislzi]

17. To use one of my mother's well-worn phrases,

This is a crying shame. Shame, shame, shame! And shame is what these heartless GOPers seem to have none of.

[Urban Prairie]

18. Maybe his constituency can get jobs sweeping up barroom floors

like the weepy Boehner allegedly had as a youngster.

Obviously there would not be enough bars in his district for everyone, but they all could take turns, getting in maybe an hour or so work and pay each every five years or so. At any rate, Boehner and those of his sociopathic and genocidal ilk believe that family, friends and charity should be the only means for those who cannot accept or assume "personal responsibility" for their lot in life, for obtaining assistance with food, shelter, clothing, and medical/dental treatment. Those who have no friends or family, or could only rely upon them for a limited time, would be unable to receive assistance from the already overburdened/overwhelmed charities, and those who already are or soon will be aged, ill, infirm, or disabled, would perish sooner or later, so that would greatly help to cut down on their large and growing numbers being a life-long burden upon all hard-working, patriotic, pro-American, and taxpaying rightwingers in our society.

Of course many who are still healthy and young enough would be forced to turn to committing crimes in desperation,to try to avoid starvation while homeless, so most of those affected would eventually be caught, arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced to jail or prisons, where the taxpayers would foot the bill for their incarceration. Turning state and federal prisons over to private companies who would then make a profit on their prisoners would create more jobs and further enrich the already wealthy corporate capitalists. Most prisoners that would eventually be released after serving out their sentences, would be unable or find it much more difficult to find work after their release, because of having a criminal record, so many would again turn to crime to survive, so they would become "career inmates" so its all good to Boehner and his rightwing Rethug ilk.

[MadMaddie]

19. How do we get this kind of information to run 24/7?

Why can't we use the same tactics with the truth?

We need individuals on the ground with camcorders making this stuff go viral...

We need to list out how much Boehner's suits, shoes and ties cost and show the cost of a meal for a child etc...

I am not talking about merely shaming them, they have gotten away with this shit for 30 years and it's time to pummel them with their greed and their policies.

[AmBlue]

20. That's exactly right.

The problem is they have NO organized opposition. If they did these shameless bastards could be hung out to dry with the kind of campaign you are talking about. Which begs the question, why is their *supposed* opposition NOT acting like opposition?

[Blue Owl]

21. Now watch Boehner's drive, after he finishes his cigarette...

n/t

[avaistheone1]

22. k&r

:kick:

[femrap]

23. That's an eye-opening article....

Good for Tina Osso. She should round up her hungry folks and visit Boehner when he's at his office in West Chester, OH and make a BIG STINK!!!!!!!!!!!! Eat beans before visiting...(From 'Rules for Radicals.')

And may Boehner choke on his 5 o'clock cocktail.

[Doctor_J]

24. Too bad the Cinncinnati fishwraps won't run this story

Not too many Nation readers in OH8, I would bet.