Instead of looking for ways to lift people out of poverty, Fox News promoted a conservative plan to shame them out of public assistance.
On Fox & Friends, a “fair and balanced” discussion about a Maine mayor’s proposal to publish the names of everybody in his town collecting welfare began with Fox’s “Entitlement Nation” graphic. A huge open hand broke through a map of the country and reached out of the screen, presumably going for your wallet.
Host Steve Doocy began with guest Seton Motley, of the non-profit Less Government. “Seton, you say that shame is a powerful motivator. What do you mean?” Doocy asked.
Motley started with gratuitous attacks on the left – that Doocy did not mind.
“Well we know it is, because the left has warped and redirected it and wants to shame taxpayers for not paying enough taxes and for wanting to know what government money is being used to do,” Seton began.
“What we need to do is know,” Seton continued. “…If we publish the welfare recipients we’ll track it. We know there’s widespread welfare abuse. Government doesn’t seem to care to do anything about reining it in. If the American taxpayers, who are paying the freight, know who’s getting welfare they can keep a better eye on who’s abusing the system, et cetera, and perhaps we can do some real serious welfare reform."
Doocy turned to his other guest, Rebecca Vallas, of the Center for American Progress, and asked, “What’s the matter with putting the list out there of the people who are winding up with money out of the taxpayers’ pocket?”
Vallas said that the “real shame” is that “our minimum wage in this country is a poverty wage.” Raising the minimum wage to $12 an hour, she said, “would actually save $53 billion in food stamps over the next 10 years” and, therefore, would be a great way to get people off public assistance.
Motley sneered, “Yeah, once again let’s shame the people who are creating jobs rather than, you know, shaming the people who are sitting on welfare.” Motley clamed that raising the minimum wage would cause the number of people on welfare to “explode because of all the jobs that will be killed” as a result.”
His ultimate solution? There should be fewer poor people! “The problem is, a family of three is not supposed to be living on a minimum wage," he said. "If you are making minimum wage you shouldn’t be having children and being on, and trying to raise a family on it.”
Of course, these are usually the same people who usually want to ban abortion and defund Planned Parenthood, which provides contraception to the poor. But maybe shaming is Seton's preferred method of family planning.
After Vallas again argued how raising wages would get people off public assistance, Doocy closed by gratuitously blaming President Obama for the problem. “Well, we’ve had seven years of the Obama economy. I guess that ultimately is the reason people aren’t makin’ that much,” Doocy remarked.
Watch this shameful War on the Poor below, from the September 28 Fox & Friends, via Raw Story.
“fox and rightwingers should start here; Owsley County, Ky.”
Hmmmmmmmmmmm, by any chance, I wonder if John Schnatter’s (CEO and founder of the “Papa John’s” pizza restaurant chain) GIGANTIC MANSION is located there?? Mark my words: this PERENNIALLY POMPOUS AND INCREDIBLY ARROGANT SLOB IS ONE OF THE BIGGEST WELFARE KINGS ALIVE TODAY! Here’s the reason why: Because he pays most of his employees CHUMP CHANGE WAGES AND VIRTUALLY NO BENEFITS, these employees who have virtually NO OTHER CHOICES as to where they can work have ABSOLUTELY NO CHOICE but to apply for public assistance in order to make ends meet.
Red meat conservative topic. Red meat conservative graphics. Set up the fireworks then light the match. Quality Fox News ‘journalism’ at its finest.
You could just tell my favorite right-wing ‘weather guy’ was chomping at the bit to weigh in the discussion with his 2¢. His non-serious, mocking mannerisms. His voice inflections. Then we get the right-wing payoff at the end with the Obama smear wrap-up coming from left… errr…. right field.
I wish the lib had stuck to the script and discussed the shaming or better “Fox & Friends” devote serious time to a serious discussion so the segue to minimum wage would get a full vetting in addition to this ridiculous poverty shaming. As it was, neither gets past a few sound-bites.
So we’re going to bite into the stereotype the poor are lazy and corrupt just like Jesus would is the first question I have for our shining example of Christians [hypocrites]? What’s the old joke about the poor guy having no problem getting a job… he’s got 2 of them!
There’s a tiny little Hispanic lady who empties my trash at night – I tend to work late – and she’s got to be one of the hardest workers I’ve ever met. A friend who also works late elsewhere has had janitors (who she knew worked multiple jobs) ask her for permission to keep something they found in her trash. There’re that poor. Yep, and I’m guessing they work harder than Motley though now I’m the one stereotyping based on all the lazy right-wingers I’ve worked with who bitch, bitch, bitch about the lazy [black] folk ‘stealing’ their tax money.
I’ll end my usual rant pointing out while Rebecca Valla didn’t bring up shaming employers – that was Doocy’s embellishment – she bobble-headed agreement. Fox News pre-screens guest so I suspect a bit of a set-up by Doocy who probably knew she was onboard this idea. Anyway, it would be an interesting experiment to publish the pictures of ‘hard working’ entrepreneurs in a top tax bracket who pay crap wages along with the McMansion and Beemer(s) they bought with the proceeds.
