Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Ya-ta Boy]

Lt. Gov and candidate for the top spot, Andre Bauer, has an innovative solution to a big share of the budget problem:

"My grandmother was not a highly educated woman, but she told me as a small child to quit feeding stray animals. You know why? Because they breed! You're facilitating the problem if you give an animal or a person ample food supply, they will reproduce."

To be fair, he said it was a poor metaphor, but I have trouble seeing the metaphor there.

But he does have a point. Maybe we should turn the federal government over to people who think like him.

It did remind me of this: "Get my dinner from a garbage can"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoG62Wi8twU

[Fox]

There are people on this very forum who pretty much have said the same thing (excepting the specific use of the term animal). On the one hand, they seem able to admit that the reason many poor people are poor is because they use bad judgment. On the other hand, they seem to think that if only social program incentives were removed, the poor would suddenly exercise much better judgment with regards to how many children they could reasonably support.

I think there's enough real world data to show that the poor are going to breed no matter what. It's just a matter of whether we let the children involved suffer because of their parent's poverty or use some of our tax dollars to help them.

[VanIslander]

why does it so often seem like there's an inverse relationship between wealth and intelligence when it comes to discussions of social policy?

[Gatsby]

Ya-ta Boy, you did not properly explain the context. This is the Lt. Governor of South Carolina, you know, the state with the governor who said he was hiking the Appalachian Trail (on Hike Nude Day) when he was actually in Argentina with his mistress and who is under threat of impeachment, and has been charged by the state with 37 ethics violations.

It sounds like Andre Bauer is his insurance policy. Bauer was criticizing the free or reduced price school lunch program, and said any parent with a child on this program should be required to undergo drug testing.

(South Carolina is the state with the 40th lowest per capita income in the U.S., so I hardly think he should be blaming parents, especially during the worst Recession in decades. But that involves applying rational thought, which is so old fashioned.)

Here's the audio:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/#35069406

Who elected these nut jobs? Is Bauer a member of The Fellowship, too?

Anyone here from the Palmetto State? You got some 'splainin to do.

You also have my condolences.

[djsmnc]

That guy's being too soft. A simple IQ test before sterilization would be far more efficient!

[Gatsby]

I hope you are joking, djsmnc.

Unfortunately, one can't assume that you are. Many states had laws allowing forced sterilization to promote eugenics and even racial purity. The most infamous was Virginia's. The U.S. Supreme Court even upheld this law in 1927.

[bacasper]

[Ya-ta Boy]

Jon Stewart (god love him) puts this in context:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/26/jon-stewart-blasts-gop-ca_n_436674.html

"Making the case that the solution to poverty is starving the poor so they don't reproduce, Bauer was not helping change South Carolina's image. Said Stewart: "You keep giving them a chance, and they keep f****** that same horse."

The starving poor didn't reproduce in India much, did they? The gov't also experimented with sterilization. Perhaps Bauer could adopt this as his campaign slogan: 1970's India--South Carolina's Future!

PS: A little historical context. Bauer is not breaking new ground here. Back in the 80's the Reagan administration declared ketchup a vegetable so that kids who got french fries with ketchup for lunch didn't need to bother with another vegetable.

[young_clinton]

[Gatsby]

Yes, but didn't young Bill Clinton receive free school lunches?

The goal is not to stop talented geniuses from breeding, it is to stop Democrats from breeding.

It's not about race, it is a race. That's why conservatives are so strongly opposed to good Christians using birth control. If Republicans stopped breeding like rabbits, it might give the edge to the Democrats.

Just think, if young Bill Clinton had starved to death, George Bush senior would have been elected to a second term. It's just plain common sense.

[Reggie]

I would actually be for the government paying for voluntary vasectomies, tube ties, and contraceptives.

When I was shopping for a vasectomy a few years ago, the cheapest I could find was over $800, with some hospitals charging into the thousands. That would be a very steep price for someone living in poverty. It would be a lot more affordable for taxpayers to pony up the $800 if a poor man wants a vasectomy than to pay for all of the babies he would go out and make. If some ladies want their tubes tied or Norplant or whatever else, that would be one of the few government spending initiatives I would not complain about.

[Ya-ta Boy]

I'd be happy to scrub the rust spots off an old pair of scissors I have if you are still in the market for a vasectomy. 10% discount, too!

Social Darwinism worked out so well the first time around, it seems only fair to bring it back.

[Reggie]

Thanks for the offer, but I don't need one now and only go to female doctors anyway. It was something I had to do, though, since I'm not on welfare.