Is it open season on kids for the GOP?
This made the rounds over the weekend, but it bears highlighting whenever and wherever possible. Michigan State Sen. Bruce Casswell is proposing that foster children should only be able to buy their clothes at thrift stores.
Seriously. These are kids who’ve been removed from their families because of abuse or neglect, and his idea is that to make their lives just that little bit easier, they shouldn’t be able to just go to the store and get new clothes that fit them. They should go to the Salvation Army, and if there’s nothing that fits them there, they better hope there’s a Goodwill nearby that has better options.
Because being removed from your family isn’t hard enough, having a family that requires removal isn’t hard enough, going to a new school isn’t hard enough, having your entire life be temporary isn’t hard enough. Nope, under Casswell’s proposal these kids would have to go to school hoping their classmates don’t decide to take aim at their secondhand clothes.
Whatever you think of punitive measures (I’m opposed, in case you were wondering) against adults for the crime of poverty, or even of just not being rich enough, usually children get at least partially exempted from that. But in this year that has already seen proposals to weaken child labor laws in Maine and Missouri, have Republican state legislators decided it’s open season on kids, too?
Tags: child labor
That is one of the most stupid ideas I have heard. Foster children are already having problems then lets make them feel less worthy by making all of their clothes come from thrift stores. I hope that is where he and his family shop for their clothes.
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Here’s all you need to know about Tim Pawlenty in one simple quote:
This GOPer bashing of kids is nothing new; the only thing new is these days, they’re more brazen about bashing ‘em.
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This is not unreasonable. These kids have all ready lost life’s lottery, good to teach them that if they want to move up in society, they must work harder, they must overcome. Some will be so angry at life’s cruelities, they will do anything not to go back. We lie to kids and tell them they are special when they’re not, We Oprah them to death and then when they’re 25 and not a famous record producer they have no guts to fall back on. Many of the commenters here appear to have been raised without fathers. They had momma hippy telling them they are special before accomplising anything.
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