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Editorial voices from elsewhere

4 min read

Editorial voices from newspapers around the United States as compiled by the Associated Press:

Although the GOP presidential debates featured little discussion about poor Americans, politicians have numerous options for helping them. From increasing the minimum wage to tax credits to funding libraries, there’s an action every politician can get behind.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s idea for lending a hand: Make low-income people pee in a cup.

During a recent visit to Iowa, the now-former Republican presidential candidate reiterated his support for making people who apply for food stamps undergo a drug test. The objective, he said, is to ensure they are clean so they can get jobs. He ignores the fact the majority of able-bodied Americans using the food assistance program do work. In fact, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program has proven effective in supporting work, according to data analyzed by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: More than 80 percent of recipients work in the year before or the year after receiving SNAP.

Interestingly, Walker and politicians have not demanded bodily fluids from other Americans who benefit from publicly funded programs. They don’t target seniors on Medicaid, corporate executives enjoying tax incentives, farm subsidy recipients or children eating free lunch at school.

It’s not because the poor are using more drugs or abusing public benefits. It’s not to help them get jobs. It’s not to save taxpayer money. It’s because stereotyping this group of Americans is easier than actually helping them.

Kids are scarfing down a lot of high-calorie and fried foods at fast-food joints daily, according to a government report that gives even greater weight to ongoing efforts to combat childhood obesity.

More than 1 in 3 children or teens in the United States eat at a fast-food restaurant on any given day, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics.

The analysis was based on the CDC’s 2011-12 survey data, so nutrition campaigns might have since made a dent. But these worrisome consumption numbers have held steady since the 1990s. Further, the bad eating habits cut across gender and even economic status for children ages 2 to 19.

These findings are vexing. Young children aren’t trotting to fast-food restaurants on their own; their parents are taking them. And, by the time they are teenagers, better dietary habits should be ingrained. The report should remind parents to set a good example and expose children to healthy foods.

“Political correctness” is a term used as a shield to protect language others find to be offensive. But what does it mean to violate the standards of political correctness?

There are many examples. When Donald Trump denounces Mexican immigrants, accusing them of being criminals and rapists, he is not being politically correct. When Sarah Palin likens black activists to dogs, she is far beyond the bounds of the correct.

Those who have been yearning for someone to give voice to their nasty prejudices, against Latinos or against women, will be gratified by the ascendancy of Trump, but ultimately, the great mass of American voters will be repelled.

Some of the Republican candidates may be looking for their Joseph Welch moment. Welch was a lawyer representing the U.S. Army in 1954 in hearings called by Sen. Joseph McCarthy to look into McCarthy’s specious charges of a communist conspiracy. Finally pushed too far, Welch responded to McCarthy by saying, “Until this moment, senator, I think I never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness … Let us not assassinate this lad further, senator. You have done enough. Have you no sense of decency?”

These lines ruined McCarthy’s career. The American people’s sense of decency is still there, looking for a voice.

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