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May 8, 2008

‘Free Food’ Puts a Bad Taste in My Mouth

Renee Taylor

When President Bush announced last week that he is calling on Congress for an additional $770 billion in international "food aid," I had just returned from a trip to the grocery store and was feeling less than charitable upon hearing that he wanted to give more aid to countries (such as the terrorist, America-hating states of Somalia and the Sudan) that we have been "feeding" for over 50 years.But fear not; Bush included needy Americans in his discussion:

"Here at home, we're working to ensure that our poorest citizens get the food they need. Since 2001, the administration in working with Congress has increased funding for nutrition assistance programs by 76 percent. We've adjusted food stamp benefits annually to cover price increases at the checkout counter. And last month the Agriculture Department made available an additional $150 million to respond to the food needs of those who depend on WIC - the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children. With this new funding, we will have increased our support for WIC by 18.6 percent this year."

But what was missing from Bush's speech was the toll that high fuel prices and food are taking on working Americans - those of us who are paying for this increase in foreign aid - aid that has done nothing in my lifetime but spawn more dependence on the government. This dependence has also spawned more crime and insolence by those wanting more under the guise of "entitlement."

And as the president offers up international aid for food, many Americans are looking for relief too. For example, at one time, my in-laws raised chickens.The cute little hens clucked happily while supplying the family with eggs.A couple of months ago, thanks to the rising cost of corn to feed them, those chickens found new homes.The sharp increase in corn prices can be directly related to its use to produce ethanol.

Back on February 13, 2007, MIT's Technology Review warned that the ethanol mandate passed by Congress would have a dramatic effect on the price of food.The theory was that ethanol would ease our dependence on foreign oil.Instead of the obvious, domestic drilling, Washington once again proved its ineptness at solving simple problems by creating new, more serious ones.We now face record high fuel costs for our homes and vehicles as well as skyrocketing grocery bills.Both have a direct effect on working Americans, those with homes and vehicles, who pay their electric bills out of their own pockets, and who pay the taxes to not only fund these unrealistic programs, but to pay the salaries of out-of-touch politicians.

This week, I called the office of my senator, Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), to invite her to join me at the local grocery store.Ours is not a family on government assistance - we do not get that little food stamp card each month, nor can we go to the local welfare office with our electric bill to have it paid. Our children do not wear $100 sneakers and we do not carry expensive cell phones. We do not live in government-funded housing and our children do not receive "free" breakfast and lunch at the local government-funded school.

I wanted Washington, represented by Sen. Lincoln, to enter the reality of the middle class American - the one who pays $2 for a loaf of bread and $10 for a gallon of cooking oil in cash; the family who buys staples such as flour and cornmeal, fruits and vegetables to cook healthy meals rather than "prepared" foods that contain the high fats and calories that are quickly becoming staples of the American diet.I wanted Sen. Lincoln to stand with me in line as those with "food stamp cards" use them to pay for junk food and sodas.I wanted her to explain to me why the apparently able-bodied person in front of me is purchasing items on government assistance that many working Americans can ill afford. But I won't hold my breath that Sen. Lincoln will take me up on the offer.

No, I am not feeling charitable as I watch the trucking industry, which is where my husband has sweated and worked for so many years to provide for our family, collapse under astronomical diesel prices. I am not feeling charitable as I call DirecTV, GMAC Financing or XM Satellite Radio only to be routed to a "call center" in the Philippines or Asia.Nor am I feeling charitable as tomato season here in Bradley County, Arkansas, gets into full swing with illegal aliens swarming our county to pick the tomatoes.Farmers here would rather pay a pittance to illegals rather than a living wage to local, hard working, tax-paying Americans.

We are watching as American jobs, such as customer service and manufacturing, continue to go overseas.Those who were elected to represent the American people seem to represent only those with a hand held out for free food, free medical care and free education in America, Mexico and countries beyond.

This American housewife is fed up - not with working hard to pay the grocery bill and the gas to get there - but with the Socialist, global policies that have put us in this position and the elitist, inept politicians who continue to expand them.All this free food is leaving a bad taste in my mouth.

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