Oklahoma Repubs Facebook post refers to SNAP recipients as 'animals'

[Panich52]

ThinkProgress

The Oklahoma Republican Party is making the case against food stamps by comparing poor people to animals, reviving a stereotype that’s often deployed against Americans who rely on government benefits to feed their families.

In a Facebook post published Monday night, the Oklahoma GOP suggested that the millions of Americans receiving food stamps this year should not be enrolled in the program because “the animals will grow dependent on handouts and will not learn to take care of themselves.”

Opponents of maintaining state and federal funding for social safety net programs have a long history of making comparisons between government beneficiaries and animals, which is widely considered to be a racially coded insult.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich once said that the current welfare system is “turning children into young animals and they are killing each other.” A GOP congressional candidate in Texas, meanwhile, compared welfare beneficiaries to donkeys.

The “don’t feed the animals” meme in particular is popular among GOP candidates. In 2012, a Minnesota state representative made nearly the exact same comparison while making the case that less money should be allocated to food stamps. In 2010, a Republican candidate for governor in South Carolina criticized food stamps by saying his grandmother “told me as a small child to quit feeding stray animals” because “they breed.” Both later apologized.

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http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2015/07/14/3680185/food-stamp-oklahoma-gop/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=tptop3&elqTrack=true&elqTrackId=cbc65abb445e4e109871e54dfec4fcc6&elqaid=26344&elqat=1

[ck4829]

1. So... the GOP is saying poor people shouldn't be begging for scraps from the 'job creators'?

Because I'm pretty sure wild animals don't do that either.

[Vinca]

2. Do they know some of the "animals" are active duty service people?

Others are veterans who might have given up more than we can ever imagine. Republicans are hopeless assholes.

[Le Taz Hot]

3. As a Republican people like him are fine

with tax breaks for the wealthy, cutting capital gains taxes, corporate money laundering and hiding money in off-shore accounts to avoid paying taxes. All that is worth a trillion dollars or more but no, let's go after the poorest of the poor.

As some of you know, I do surveys for a living and I can tell you nobody is getting rich off the SNAP program. I can't get into more detail than that except to affirm there is a LOT of food uncertainty out there as in people, especially CHILDREN, going hungry before the next SNAP allotment is added their card.

This is scapegoating the least powerful in our society and I'm guessing this guy goes to church every Sunday, congratulating himself on what a fine Christian he is.

[prayin4rain]

4. It sounds like their making a case for us to ignore the

existence of property rights. So, sure, if we ignore the systems in place that keep some hungry, we can all fend for ourselves like the animals.