You’d thought you’d seen it all. And then the Republicans got power over the government…
Last year when Republicans threw yet another poutfest and refused to do their job of funding the government, it was at least allegedly over something remotely related to a policy they hated, though a policy that was passed legally into law after months and months of “debate” (aka, conservative terrorism).
This year, Republicans are going for the full monty of childish behavior. Gone are the real policy complaints. Now they stand naked before the nation demanding cuts to Michelle Obama’s healthy school lunch program.
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The school lunches get it or else!
Jonathan Weisman and Ashley Parker at The New York Times reported that Republicans claim the school lunch program is “overzealous” (this as they demand an out for contraception coverage in return for funding the government, speaking of “overzealous”):
Congress prepared on Monday to scale back Michelle Obama’s school-lunch nutrition mandates and curtail some clean water regulations in a $1 trillion spending bill that would avert a government shutdown this week but extract a policy price from Democrats.
…“Nobody here is disagreeing on nutrition in school lunches,” said Representative Tom Cole of Oklahoma, a Republican on the House Appropriations Committee. “It’s just that sometimes people carrying out your wishes are so overzealous they go beyond what you were asking.”
Republicans maintain that efforts by the first lady and congressional Democrats to improve school nutrition by reducing the sodium content and increasing the percentage of whole grains in school lunches have become onerous for beleaguered school cafeterias. The eased school lunch standards are “about pace and flexibility,” Mr. Cole said.
Yes. Republicans can’t even pass a simple funding bill. The Republican demand for changes to school lunches is just one of one hundred policy riders that Republicans have added to the government funding bill. The one hundred Republican demands are the reason the government has no funding in place with only two days left to go before the government shutdown deadline.
Ebola and national security are at stake. Remember just a few weeks ago when Republicans were hysterically warning you that Ebola was coming for you? Remember their ISIS panic? Well, now that the election is over, Republicans would rather shut down funding to those programs than let Michelle Obama’s healthy lunch program go on without a stage kick. Republicans will fight allegedly overzealous nutrition or else shut down all the government, like the totally rational people they are.
Eat some crap or the country gets it, kids. Love, the GOP.
Republicans have been unable to do their one job, coming up with a budget and passing it. So instead they use every crisis manufactured by their own incompetency as a hostage taking moment. It’s like a kid not doing their homework and then demanding $100,000.00 for doing half of it, late. Normally, the people who can’t do their job wouldn’t consider themselves in a position to make demands as silly and ridiculous as less nutrition in school lunches lest Michelle Obama actually address childhood obesity.
This is the hill they want to die on: Too much nutrition in school lunches.
Republicans are threatening to shutdown the government in order to feed your kids junk food, because this is America! Media Matters reminds us that most Americans actually want schools to address childhood obesity, “Pew polling has found that a majority of Americans agree that “the government should play a significant role in reducing obesity among children.” So Republicans can’t even honestly claim they are doing this for “the people”. This is why they are making vague mentions of cafeteria efficiency. Republicans will possibly shutdown government in order to address an allegedly bogged down school cafeteria. Totally rational.
And once again, Republicans will have to scramble at the last minute to throw some red meat together to show their base that they are giving it to Democrats. So we will have yet another short term funding bill full of holes.
NO MORE HEALTHY FOOD OR AIR, or the country gets it. Republicans know what they were sent to DC to do.
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Sarah has been credentialed to cover President Barack Obama, then VP Joe Biden, 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and exclusively interviewed Speaker Nancy Pelosi multiple times and exclusively covered her first home appearance after the first impeachment of then President Donald Trump.
Sarah is two-time Telly award winning video producer and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.
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