Well, being that the majority who use food stamps are white might be a snag in that theory. http://food-stamps.me/types.html But don't let facts get in your way. . . .

And don't forget he said it in a state with a predominately white population. I think, 97% of the people in that state on WIC are white. I think it was Iowa, but not 100% sure.

Edit: Yes, Iowa. And that state has a 2.9% black population according to the Census.

 

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Here's a link to a page that has the video...

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/01/rick_santorum_says_hes_against.html

He was talking about the growth of government programs like Medicaid and how that made everyone dependent on the government. Typical right wing talking point. But, then, he veers off and says he doesn't want the government taking your money to give it to black folks.

 

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Yeah, he's a real charmer. There's a reason why his last name is slang for a certain, foamy substance.

 

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The porblem I have with your argument groucho is that if he would have said, "We need to cut all programs that hand money to the poor because I hate it when poor people steal a dollar from rich people because they are sorry punks who should be at least out trying to get a job instead of laying around at home and playing PS3. And this has nothing to do with race"

I know FOR SURE thet he would be called to task on opportunity grounds and one of the complaints he would have received would have been that cutting those programs disproportionately hurts blacks who are already a heavily disenfranchised and hamstrung group political power wise.

So you can pretend it's not about race but liberals ABSOLUTELY would raise the racial inequality of the effects as an issue if someone said cutting it wasn't about race.

Enjoy your soapbox though. I don't buy the "colorblind" argument from either side.

 

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So, your argument is that liberals would just claim that ANY call for cutting the safety net would be racist, so, Santorum might as well just be upfront about it?

 

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Sometimes GC is just a version of Koenig with a brain. Watching him continue to argue and often win even when he is clearly wrong is fun.

 

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no. my argument is that the disproportionate racial impact is legitimate to bring up by both sides. And it is republicans who would be more likely to try and ignore it and dems who would be more likely to bring it up and hold republican's feet ot the fire over it. So it seemed like a stupid argument to make against anyone yes, but specifically it seemed like a stupid argument to make against a republican speaking of gov't welfare programs in terms of racial impact.

So I DO think ti is legitimate to bring up on any welfare issue that disproportionately effects minorities, but I specifically thought your argument was specious because it is the ultimate having it both way perception.

 

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I am a very poor communicator on here, because I think of all of these threads as a part of a larger meta conversation. So a lot of times I state a conclusion that I believe is backed up by the last ten discussions we've had about it, and then am called to task. it is only then that I attempt to fill in the holes in what I have appeared to say, versus what i have tried to say.

If I was a batter communicator then I don't think I'd look wrong as much at first. But you can't have everything and I got the looks and the luck. So I'll just roll with looking dumb at first.

 

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If the thrust of Santorum's speech was how the safety net is hurting blacks more than helping them and that he favors doing...this, this, and this, instead, you would have a point. But, that is not what his speech was about. He was talking about the federal mandate to increase Medicaid enrollment and how it was just making more people dependent on government, but then, realizing half his audience was probably in favor of more Medicaid, switched to talking about food stamps for black people. Why just black people? If his argument was correct, doesn't the safety net discourage ALL people?

 

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I never thought he'd curse at all given how pious he is. Then I heard him yell "BULLSHIT!" at a reporter like last week.

 

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