The GOP war on the poor: ‘The scarlet letter’ (OK, orange)

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Republicans really ought to remind themselves every day, "there but for the grace of God go I." Their abject hatred of the unemployed and the poor borders on the pathological.

The latest proposal from first-term Rep. Jeff Dial (R-Chandler) is simply obscene. Lawmaker: Bright orange needed to make food stamp cards stand out:

It's not quite a scarlet letter.

But a Chandler Republican lawmaker wants the debit cards now given to food stamp recipients to be bright safety orange. And if there's any doubt about the card pulled out of someone's wallet at the checkout, that would be erased with the mandate that there be, in large, black print, the words, "Government Food Stamp Card."

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First-term Rep. Jeff Dial said his goal is not to stigmatize those who qualify for the aid, formally known as the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Instead, Dial told Capitol Media Services he wants to prevent fraud.

Bullshit. Dial puts the truth to his lie with his next statement:

"If that does concern people that they have a bright orange card, I hope they go get a better education or better jobs and stop using that card," he said.

What an asshole (hence the scarlet letter "A"). How about instead we require every corporation receiving a corporate welfare tax giveaway today when the Arizona Legislature passes its so-called "jobs bill" to have to display a similar card identifying that corporation as the recipient of a taxpayer-funded government bailout? This asshole is willing to give millions of dollars in corporate welfare to corporations while stigmatizing those who lost their jobs when one of these "welfare queen" corporations laid them off to increase profits or shipped their jobs overseas to exploit cheap foreign labor.

[W]hat Dial wants to do in his proposal, set for hearing Wednesday before the House Health and Human Services Committee, may be illegal.

The program, funded by the federal government, is designed to help low-income people be able to purchase more nutritious items than their finances might otherwise allow. As of last month, there were more than 431,000 Arizona families getting some assistance.

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"It's obviously a big deal now in the state to get rid of any wasteful spending," Dial said.

So, we have ourselves another "Tenther" Neoconfederate insurrectionist who seems to think that states can engage in "nullification" of federal laws (secession by any other other name). Does this fool understand that the food stamp program, Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC),is intended to keep children from going hungry? I doubt that he cares.

Dial said the bright orange color and bold lettering would make it "very clear" what the card is. That, in turn would direct the retailer to demand additional identification proving that the person presenting the card is, in fact, the legitimate holder.

"We want people to take a very close look at that card and make sure that the person that's using that card matches up by ID as well as by photo so we can get rid of that wasteful spending," Dial said.

But DES spokesman Steve Meissner said various federal regulations likely preclude what Dial wants.

For example, it says users of the debit cards should not be singled out for "special treatment" as compared to any other shopper. A bright orange card, Meissner said, could run afoul of that.

Meissner said that a requirement for retailers to ask for photo ID to compare with the name on the card definitely would violate federal anti-discrimination rules, particularly as users have their own unique PIN number.

New Rule: These Republican haters should have to wear the scarlet letter "A" (for asshole) so that the public can protect themselves against these morally bankrupt individuals.