Saturday, May 27, 2017

Representative Adrian Smith
on “the necessity of nutrition”

On Weekend Edition Saturday this morning, Scott Simon asked Representative Adrian Smith (R, Nebraska-3) whether he would vote for a budget that eliminated SNAP (food stamps). Smith, who supports farm subsidies, dodged the question:

SS: “Well, let me ask you this bluntly: is every American entitled to eat?”

AS: “Well [laughing], nutrition, obviously, we know, is very important, and I would hope that we can look to — ”

SS: “Well, not just important; it’s essential for life. Is every American entitled to eat?”

AS: “It is essential. It is essential.”

SS: “So is every American entitled to eat, and is food stamps something that ought to be that ultimate guarantor?”

AS: “I think that we know that given the necessity of nutrition, there could be a number of ways that we can address that.”
Perhaps he’s thinking of nutraloaf?

Smith might have had a career as a character in a Dickens novel. Say, Hard Times.

comments: 3

Fresca said...

Geez. He should just be honest and say no.
But that wouldn't be Dickensian...
I guess he could say, "Let the poor die and reduce the surplus population."

Michael Leddy said...

Yes, though he does vaguely say that there will be food, of some sort.

I think the so-called AHCA will take care of population problems. And I can’t believe I’m making that joke in a 21st-century democracy.

Fresca said...

Food of some sort... Soylent green!

I know--crazy that this is something we are currently joking about.