Michele Bachmann Says If You Are Unemployed, You Should Starve

[Noob]

Not sure if this as been posted all ready.


During a speech at the Family Research Council in Washington, Michele Bachmann bashed the unemployed in perhaps the most heartless way possible. After vowing to weaken social safety net programs such as Social Security, Medicare, food stamps, and unemployment benefits, Bachmann said that if you are currently not working, you should not be eating.

“Our nation needs to stop doing for people what they can and should do for themselves. Self reliance means, if anyone will not work, neither should he eat.”

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2011/11/08/michele-bachmann-says-if-you-are-unemployed-you-should-starve/

[Give me liberty]

nvm.

[apex]

It sounds bad, but families lives off the land and farmed for their families. They learned skills and sold products they made. Now people are told to go to school and work for someone else. So on one hand shes right, but the other shes a bit crazy. These programs are made to help people in need not prop them up for long term. They should at least drug test people on welfare/unemployment. If drugs are illegal, then wtf?

[milo10]

Even an atheist like myself knows that Michelle's statement is based on a biblical quote..."he who will not work, neither will he eat" or something like that.

Don't take stuff like this literally. :)

[Give me liberty]

Even an atheist like myself knows that Michelle's statement is based on a biblical quote..."he who will not work, neither will he eat" or something like that.

Don't take stuff like this literally. :)
Well if she was taking a biblical quote she should have mentioned in the correct way, sadly this is isnt looking good for her.

[milo10]

Well if she was taking a biblical quote she should have mentioned in the correct way, sadly this is isnt looking good for her.

Can't say I disagree. Michelle has long been known for being a little nutty, and somewhat in her own bubble.

[centure7]

I like Bachmann. Clearly she is honest. Perry has moments of honesty too, but I think on accident, so I don't hold him in the same regard. She clearly isn't telling people what they want to hear and she knows it.

[acptulsa]

She clearly isn't telling people what they want to hear and she knows it.

Not true. She's telling the old folks, the ones you can count on to vote in Republican primaries, exactly what they want to hear. And she's helping them stay out of touch with current realities. She's helping them believe what the cooked numbers show--that this isn't as bad as the Great Depression even though it is. That American Entreprenurialism isn't dead even though it now takes ten thousand dollars worth of permits and liability insurance to start a lemonade stand. That hard work and dedication will still get you somewhere when all it will get you is screwed by a psychotic piranha higher up on the corporate ladder.

She's pandering, and possibly as out of touch as she sounds. And it won't even get her the nomination and a chance to get her her ass handed to her in the general election.

[Sola_Fide]

There is nothing wrong with what she said.

Secondly, the title of the article is misleading, and the content of the article presupposes welfarism. It even misinterprets the private charity of Jesus as state welfare. It is wrong all around.

[Sola_Fide]

You guys need to actually read the articles you get off the leftist websites before you post them as a "gotcha".

[Apparition]

There is nothing wrong with what she said.

Secondly, the title of the article is misleading, and the content of the article presupposes welfarism. It even misinterprets the private charity of Jesus as state welfare. It is wrong all around.

Agreed.
This article is way off and there is absolutely nothing wrong with what she said.

[LayZayFaire]

"Our nation needs to stop doing for people what they can and should do for themselves."

- Michelle Bachman

There is truth in this statement. Now, notice that the people she is talking about are not the disabled or mentally ill. It is obvious that many of them CANNOT do for themselves the things that they need. "Stop doing for people what THEY CAN DO FOR THEMSELVES," which means that all the lazy, sit on your ass, collect welfare and section 8 motherfuckers need to get off their asses and get a job. You know what, I won't even put the bar that high. If they even go out and look for a job, and possibly even apply to 5 jobs a week, I will be impressed. Living in the urban area that I do, you can drive to the ghettos and find tons of young people sitting on the porch or walking around when they should be working or looking for jobs. When I say young, I mean 18-30 years of age.

The fact that we even complain about illegal immigrants and outsourcing is a tragic marker for the decline that our country is in. We don't want them taking our jobs and the type of jobs that they do take at the wages they get paid, no American would want to do. Which is why we need to cut off welfare. The social changes and overall attitude towards earning a living or receiving an entitlement is much more damaging than the taxpayer dollars they cost.



She's pandering, and possibly as out of touch as she sounds. And it won't even get her the nomination and a chance to get her her ass handed to her in the general election.

I don't see it as pandering. It's a pretty truthful statement. I don't care if Ron Paul is our candidate. I call it as I see it and what she said is the hard, cold, politically incorrect truth. Although I am pretty anarchistic, I can't put all the blame on the government. Much of what we call poverty, especially among urban minorities, is self-inflicted. The last thing we want to do is support these people with government money. Welfare is the not just redistribution of wealth. It is the rewards system that pays people to be burdens to society as opposed to valuable productive individuals. These people need to act like idiots on their own dime. I know, I know. There are people that are truly in a tough place where they lost their jobs and financially in the shit. But my opinion is that they are in the minority, and the majority are the people that actively choose, not forced, to live off others.

[amy31416]

I agree with her sentiment--but can our government be trusted (local, state and federal) to do this the right way? To me, the right way is to FIRST remove all the barriers (the ridiculous ones, anyways) to small businesses, to remove minimum wage laws, to get rid of the Obamacare BS, etc. Then you start dismantling the welfare state for anyone but the elderly and seriously handicapped.

Lots of these people who are looked down upon have tried and been shut down, essentially forcing them to stay on welfare. I recall a recent story about a semi-homeless man who bought a case of beer and was selling it by the bottle to folks going to an event. He was arrested, forced to pay fines and they destroyed his merchandise.

Guess what? He's likely on welfare now, in and out of shelters and what he was doing wasn't harming anyone. In fact, he said that he was doing it to try to take care of his son and the cops didn't give a crap. These government jerks shut down charities trying to give people a hand to improve their lot in life. So while some of you are right to heap scorn on people who abuse the system, remember that the main abusers are those who run the system and go that extra mile to make sure that those in poverty stay in poverty.

[newbitech]

I mean the key word in this quote is "will".

Many unemployed "will" work, and in many cases, I am sure they'd be "willing" to work for nothing more than food and place to live.

So I think rather than a knee jerk reaction of OMZG MB wants people to starve through no fault of there own, I consider truth and wisdom in her words. Feeding oneself is a fundamental property of life. Whether that food comes from the grocery store via food stamps, the visa check card, tilling the land, or shooting wild game, all of these actions require some level of willingness to work in order to be successful.

I agree that food stamps requires the very minimum amount of work to be performed, and I also think that if food stamps went bye bye or got chopped way back, we'd find that those unemployed who are willing to work for food, would find work. Those who would be unwilling to work, would starve.

[ctiger2]

I like Bachmann. Clearly she is honest. Perry has moments of honesty too, but I think on accident, so I don't hold him in the same regard. She clearly isn't telling people what they want to hear and she knows it.

LOL! I'd label Bachmann as the worst panderer in the race and she clearly lies whenever she needs to.

[Johncjackson]

Many unemployed will and are willing to work but have become dependent on a system/society that offers no opportunity for work. I am not just talking about the welfare system, but also the work system. The fact is, depending on jobs is futile for a lot of people. A lot of people can't get jobs and are basically at the mercy of people "giving" work. Things like gardening and entrepreneurship/resourcefulness are discouraged/outlawed by government and society.

Is she discouraging PRIVATE charity? What about churches and food banks, that don't mind handing out food no questions asked? I'm drawing a blank right now, but there was a pretty notable political philosopher ( well, more than one, of course) who opposed even private charity for the indigent. I'm curious if she follows this.

[1836]

Not sure if this as been posted all ready.



http://www.addictinginfo.org/2011/11/08/michele-bachmann-says-if-you-are-unemployed-you-should-starve/

I don't understand what is wrong with this. She is saying that if you can do for yourself but choose not to, don't expect the government to come running to your aid.

I know she'd say differently about someone who truly cannot do for themselves. I'd imagine she also would support charity for either kind of person, so long as it is private.

Let's stop jumping on Bachmann, she's a friendly figure in this nomination. She's not once said anything negative about Ron Paul, and her supporters may well be ours after she drops out.