In this season of giving, it’s ironic to hear such bitter words about “takers” in America.
That bleat represents a vitriolic response to President Obama’s re-election by his most strident opponents. The reason for his victory, according to a post-election assessment by Mitt Romney, the defeated Republican candidate, was “extraordinary financial gifts from government” by the president to certain groups of Americans — specifically, young people, Latin-Americans, African-Americans, and women. Free stuff. Government checks. Get in line.
The claim is a sure-fire way to stir up “hell yeahs” from like-minded people, long Facebook rants, and chain emails. The stereotyping also is unfair, distorted and inaccurate.
One of the most popular assertions by those angered by the vote involved “Obama phones” handed out by the administration for free to welfare recipients, who then presumably voted for the president. The accusation got repeated at a Romney campaign rally by the Florida agriculture commissioner, and then spread nationwide through a video of a woman claiming to have received one of the “Obama phones.”
A chain email expressed outrage that such a practice threatened bedrock principles of God, family and hard work, according to the Tampa Bay Tribune’s Pulitzer Prize-winning PolitiFact.com fact-checking team. The problem is, the Lifeline program (that’s the actual name, rather than “Obama phones”) was created in 1985 and expanded in 2008 under President Bush. It subsidizes phone service for low-income people. In 2012, the Federal Communications Commission actually modernized Lifeline to reduce fraud and waste, and ensure broadband availability to low-income Americans, PolitiFact found.
The Florida ag commissioner, Adam Putnam, retracted his comment, PolitiFact reported, posting on his own Facebook page, “About those cell phones: I’d heard about the YouTube video, wasn’t aware it was disclaimed. Won’t happen again.”
That’s the sad reality of the takers-versus-makers depiction of the nation. It panders to the baser human instincts and perpetuates fallacies.
A much different, refreshing response to the election came from the incoming chairman of the Republican Governors Association, Bobby Jindal, the Louisiana governor. Last Sunday on “Fox News Sunday,” Jindal distanced himself from comments by Romney, who earlier in the campaign famously wrote off 47 percent of America as unwilling to take personal responsibilities. Of the GOP, Jindal said, “If we want people to like us, we have to like them first,” adding, “You don’t start to like people by insulting them and saying their votes were bought. We are an aspirational party.”
Like Jindal, fellow Republican Carlos Gutierrez, former Commerce secretary under President Bush, voiced plans for action, rather than cynicism. Gutierrez, according to The Associated Press, is forming a super political-action-committee to support Republican candidates who endorse immigration reform, including legalizing the status of 11 million immigrants now living in the U.S. without authorization. A gift to buy votes? No. The immigrants, Gutierrez told CNN, “risk their lives, and they come here and they work because they want to be part of the American dream. That is what the GOP is.”
Those who continue to blame “takers” only divert the healthier, meaningful debate about strengthening the economy, and expanding opportunity. Before clicking “Like” on a Facebook tirade, consider some numbers: Seventy percent of U.S. counties with the fastest growth of food-stamp assistance during the past four years voted for the Republican presidential candidate, John McCain, in 2008, Bloomberg news service reported, quoting U.S. Department of Agriculture data. Why? The same reason it increased in other regions — the brutal recession.
Also, remember that favorable government policies and benefits to defense, energy and international corporations could also qualify those multi-billion-dollar entities as takers.
Instead, as the holidays unfold, let’s give the “takers” talk a rest. It’s time to move on.
Editorials
EDITORIAL: Put ‘takers’ talk to rest
Post-election blaming rant divisive distortion
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EDITORIAL: Insisting on ISTEP quality lawmakers’ primary duty
Now that everyone, on both sides of the aisle, seems backslappingly happy to agree that this spring’s ISTEP school testing debacle was unacceptable, that at least some of the results lack credibility and that the issue carries high-stakes significance, what next?
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RONN MOTT: Not hurried a bit by 21st century tech
Unlike so many of you, I do not get up in the morning and run to turn on my computer. In fact, if you need to reach me in a hurry, I would say that 19th century invention of Alexander Bell’s would be the best way. If you do email me or use some other electronic convenience, better give it a couple of days because I am not in that big of a hurry.
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EDITORIAL: And now we wait for justice
It is a word we would rather never have on our front page — homicide. That we had to use it twice on Wednesday’s front page is sad, but unavoidable.
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EDITORIAL: Remembering Sister Jeanne
Terre Haute is mourning the loss this week of an accomplished and beloved community activist and leader whose life’s work is an inspiration to all who strive to serve.
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EDITORIAL: Embrace the value of traffic planning
Never underestimate the value of a good plan to deal with a crisis, large or small, even if the final analysis of the management of a specific crisis is, “It could have been worse.”
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EDITORIAL: It’s time to assess ISTEP
Later this month, the company behind this spring’s abysmal online administration of ISTEP testing for 27,000 Hoosier schoolchildren is being called to the principal’s office.
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EDITORIAL: Fix fraud, don’t punish needy
Waste and fraud in government programs should be rooted out vigilantly. Legislation should fix a problem with a fitting solution, not punish the needy.
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EDITORIAL: Noteworthy in the news: An anniversary to honor
The anniversary we observe today is one that will forever live in the soul of America.
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EDITORIAL: Highway 40 — where are you?
Area residents have been trying to come to grips with the Indiana Department of Transportation’s decision to change the official route of U.S. 40 through Terre Haute and Vigo County.
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EDITORIAL: Indiana’s workforce problems require broad-based solutions
The issue of Indiana’s “skills gap” arose during a community jobs fair Thursday at Hulman Center, hosted by 8th District Rep. Larry Bucshon.
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EDITORIAL: Happy trails for Hoosiers
Indiana has an abundance of natural treasures that should never be considered hidden treasures.
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EDITORIAL: Noteworthy in the news
While not much has been spoken or written recently about the Indiana 641 corridor through southern Vigo County, rest assured development continues and the approximately six-mile project linking U.S. 41 near Ivy Tech to Indiana 46 and Interstate 70 remains — mostly — on course.
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EDITORIAL: Terre Haute Tomorrow seeks to reignite community momentum
Long-range planning that brings together diverse local interests in an effort to collaborate on community improvements often launches with a flourish but then settles onto a shelf to gather dust. That was remarkably NOT the result when the group known as Terre Haute Tomorrow emerged on the scene about 10 years ago.
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EDITORIAL: Women in uniform must be treated with respect, dignity
As the nation pauses this Memorial Day weekend to remember those who have served their country, it is appropriate to reflect on the contributions of women in military uniform of the U.S. armed services. They are many, and their impact is great.
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The celebration season
Spring has been a bit elusive at times in 2013, which is its nature.
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EDITORIAL: Noteworthy in the news: MVC tourney an event worth having
It’s been a long time since the Missouri Valley Conference chose Indiana State University to host its post-season baseball tournament, but Terre Haute had never been more prepared for an event such as this.
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EDITORIAL: Cleaning up voter rolls
It’s not a lot of money in the big scheme of things, but the $2 million designated in the recent session of the General Assembly will begin the messy but necessary process of cleaning up Indiana’s voter registration rolls.
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EDITORIAL: Waging the ‘readiness’ campaign
Almost every Hoosier who starts college intends to finish. Unfortunately, those who arrive on campus unprepared in key academic areas are far less likely to fulfill that aspiration.
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EDITORIAL: Insult to an independent press
Distrust of government secrecy has been elevated to an exceptional level with the disclosure the Justice Department covertly examined two months of Associated Press phone records to determine who leaked details to the AP about a foiled terrorist plot.
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EDITORIAL: Noteworthy in the news: Dashing finish for the Sycamores
It’s always thrilling to see Indiana State University’s athletic teams do well in high-level competition, and two specific teams rose to impressive heights last weekend in the Missouri Valley Conference outdoor track and field championships.
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EDITORIAL: Better monitoring needed to prevent local environmental messes
The nasty, hazardous messes lurking in the community raise a bottom-line, red-flag question. Could these environmental problems have been monitored and, thus, prevented?
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EDITORIAL: Memo to U.S.A.: You can ‘SPPRAK’ just as we do in Vigo County
Our kids, truly, are ‘Making a Difference’
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Some words in praise of boring government — Indiana’s
A conservative Republican governor has super majorities in both branches of the legislature. One might suspect such one-party government leads to major changes in public policy. This did not happen in 2013 in Indiana.
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EDITORIAL: Doc’s prescient prescription
Viewed through a 2013 prism, Doc Bowen’s response to the AIDS epidemic looks merely prudent, routine.
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EDITORIAL: Education remains worth the cost
Within the next few weeks, each of the local colleges will have conducted graduation ceremonies. A few days later, a different Class of 2013 will don caps and gowns for commencement — the seniors at five Vigo County high schools. It is still a smart, worthy aspiration for those high school grads to replicate the achievement of those college students by earning a higher-education degree.
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EDITORIAL: Good news for downtown
For decades, it seems, downtown Terre Haute has been in the throes of change
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EDITORIAL: Overall, state budget step in the right direction
For average Hoosiers uninterested in political point-scoring, the budget crafted by the Indiana Legislature inspires only muted, if any, fanfare.
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EDITORIAL: The lessons of organ donation
The range of emotion surrounding life-saving transplantation of a vital organ is extreme. It is the ultimate “good news-bad news” scenario.
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READERS’ FORUM: April 26, 2013
• Pence’s tax cuts benefit wealthiest
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EDITORIAL: Noteworthy in the news
This does not qualify as a surprise in any way. But the Wabash Valley’s response to widespread flooding of recent days has been nothing short of impressive, even inspirational.
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