Tennessee GOP Lawmaker Wants To Tie Welfare Benefits To Children's Grades

[proud2BlibKansan]

Tennessee state Rep. Stacey Campfield (R) introduced a bill this week seeking to make welfare benefits contingent upon the grades of a would-be recipient's children.

Campfield's legislation, filed Thursday, would "require the reduction of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) payments for parents or caretakers of TANF recipients whose children fail to maintain satisfactory progress in school." TANF is more commonly referred to as welfare.

Under Campfield's bill, welfare recipients would face a loss of benefits if their children showed poor academic performance. It's unclear how these factors would be tied to one another, or how the children's performance would be assessed.

In a blog addressing his proposal, Campfield calls his bill a measure to "break the cycle of poverty." According to Campfield, education is a "three legged stool" comprised of schools, teachers and parents. He claims the state has adequately held the first two legs of the school accountable, but argues that it should apply more pressure on the third.

more ... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/25/stacey-campfield-tennessee_n_2552781.html#slide=1307953

[Tx4obama]

1. ALL elected Republicans are nuts. n/t

[HiPointDem]

2. Such idiots should be strangled at birth

[lunasun]

3. He was also the legislator behind TN''s controversial and ill-fated "don't say gay bill" in 2012.

time and tax$$ waster

[d_r]

5. he's a carpet bagging mfer

[Fawke Em]

48. Yep. He's originally from New York.

Although, he acts like he's from the Isle of Stupid.

[d_r]

4. hey here's an idea

let's tie tanf to school progress. That way the kids who aren't doing as well can have even more stress in their lives and their families, and less nutrition to support brain development. Then we should see some grades come up. Even better, let's tie it to TCAP scores. That is just freaking brilliant.

ETA I better add the sarcasm thing-

[Thinkingabout]

6. Could someone explain how cutting payments to needy kids if they have low grades breaks the cycle of

proverty. I think I missed something here or is this just another dumb republican.

[d_r]

9. I'm going to take a stab at asslogic

something like this - "the kids are planning on just laying around being welfare bums when they grow up so they don't bother trying in school, but if we turn off the money they will try harder and improve their grades to earn their little pittance = if they aren't doing well in school it is because they are lazy and they don't deserve support."

The guy is a real jerk - look at his wikipedia for some of his antics-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stacey_Campfield

he also wanted to keep people who are on public assistance from winning the lottery.

[Go Vols]

7. I know there are idiots here,

but this is beyond stupid.

[Newsjock]

8. Tie lawmakers' pay to their score on a 10th-grade civics test

I call my bill a measure to "break the cycle of stupid."

[nyquil_man]

16. How about a law tying legislative salary to passage rate of proposed legislation?

The more legislation they propose that is not successfully passed into law, the lower their salary.

Would cut down on idiotic vanity bills which have no chance of passing and do nothing but waste time.

[SunSeeker]

29. LOL. Love it! nt

[sad-cafe]

59. I like it

most would fail

[freshwest]

10. Is this the same state where the GOP woman said hungry childern learn better? Or was it MO?

This is a eugenics program, plain and simple. Children with disabilities or learning difficulties, will never make the grade this Nazi wants, so starve those worthless mouths to death. No amount of rightwing propaganda from Rush and the rest of the fascists would convince me otherwise. They want the poor dead. EOM.

[kestrel91316]

15. Well, actually, they want ALL of us dead. But first

they're coming for the poor.

[okaawhatever]

17. while I don't believe a tn lawmaker said that, we did have Marsha Blackburn say that hammers are

as bad as guns. We also have the psycho gun nut James Yeager who was going to start killing people if Obama went inch farther. We also have the head of our state legislature plead guilty to dui with a loaded weapon. Oh, and he was the one who wrote the bill allowing guns in bars in the first place. And that was all last week. Tennessee republicans have brought a cornucopia of stupid lately so I have a hard time keeping track.

[freshwest]

24. I just googled DU and it was a woman from MO. But SC had a guy who said that...

Last edited Sun Jan 18, 2015, 10:28 AM - Edit history (2)

Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer: "Don't feed the poor. They'll 'breed."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x427117

I found the woman from Missouri:

Missouri Republican responds to child hunger: "Hunger Can Be a Positive Motivator"

Sat Jun 20, 2009 at 03:21 PM PDT
by Dem Beans

The Party of No Ideas has finally come up with one: eradicate child hunger by sending your children to work at McDonalds, because they give a free meal to their workers.

This is the response of a Missouri State Representative to a summer lunch program to help Missourians who are struggling with the economic downturn.

State Rep. Cynthia Davis (R-O’Fallon) chimes in on how wasteful it is to feed hungry children during the summer, when they don't have a school lunch program to offer one good meal per day.

In her recent newsletter Cynthia Davis has the following words of wisdom to parents of hungry children:

Why have meals at home with your loved ones if you can go to the government soup kitchen and get one for free? This could have the effect of breaking apart more families.

Anyone under 18 can be eligible? Can’t they get a job during the summer by the time they are 16? Hunger can be a positive motivator. What is wrong with the idea of getting a job so you can get better meals?

Tip: If you work for McDonald’s, they will feed you for free during your break.

Families may economize by choosing to not waste hard earned dollars on potato chips, ice cream, or Twinkies. Perhaps some families will buy more beans and chicken and less sweets.

They are using a "crisis" to create an expansion of a government program. Parents naturally love their children and enjoy caring for their children just as much as ever during an economic downturn...

Laid off parents could adapt by preparing more home cooked meals rather than going out to eat.

If you can stomach reading her full newsletter, there's lots of gruesome, heartless dreck contained within.

St. Louis Today features a story about State Rep. Davis, as well as the following sad statistics about child hunger in Missouri:

Ms. Davis chairs the House Special Standing Committee on Children and Families. In that position, she might be expected to have insight into child hunger in our state.

She might know, for instance, that about one in five Missouri children lives with hunger. That ties us with Louisiana for the nation’s seventh-highest rate, according to a report released last month by the hunger-relief charity Feeding America.

Or that the recession has pushed the number of poor Missouri kids who qualify for free or reduced-price school lunches by 8.3 percent this year, well above the national average.

Apparently not.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/06/20/744986/-Missouri-Republican-responds-to-child-hunger-Hunger-Can-Be-a-Positive-Motivator

The Daily Kos allows sharing these in their entirety.

No one should take offense at whatever state is mentioned, although I admit to shaking my head in wonder how these beasts get total power and suspect it is because there are fewer voters to stop them doing these things. In each of these states, we have desperate Dems fighting back - but look at these people.
.

[okaawhatever]

25. Dear God, she's a special kind of evil isn't she? That just sickens me. thx nt

[proud2BlibKansan]

37. That was MO

[freshwest]

45. Yes, I already found it and posted the link above you.

GOP evil doesn't respect state boundaries.

[proud2BlibKansan]

46. Thankfully, that nitwit termed out.

She's now head of the state constitution party.

[freshwest]

47. The Constitution Party is a piece of work...

Hopefully, she won't have the ability to blight as many lives with them.

[xmas74]

64. Yep, I remember that nasty bitch.

She runs neck and neck with Cunningham for who is the nastier each week.

(And before anyone on here gets offended by the word "bitch": this woman deserves it and so much worse, as does Cunningham. Davis wants to cut off all aid to school lunch programs-the summer program is her first step. And Cunningham wants to eradicate all child labor laws. I live in Missouri and deal with the crap bills. I also call my state rep, Denny Hoskins, a rat bastard, even in public. And what I have to say about the Blunts would make a sailor blush. The a-holes listed here deserve public floggings by their constituents.)

Also wanted to add how nice it was when Davis went with the Constitution Party. And even funnier how Cunningham lost her bid as the chair of the MO GOP.

[dsc]

11. I don't favor having it tied to grades

but it should be tied to attendance, especially of younger kids. I do think that it is a parent's job to get younger children ready for school and to school.

[Lordquinton]

34. And when they leave the grounds after they get dropped off?

or more likely ditch the bus in the first place.

I also question his assertion that they are holding up their end of this three legged dog, they do everything they can to disrupt schools, and it's their tests that cause many to be failing.

[dsc]

49. then you go to school with them

after all if you are welfare you aren't working so take a day to follow your kid from class to class or in the case of elementary students stay in the class with them.

[Lordquinton]

50. But then they can't be out looking for a job

Oh, I get it, they should be using the internet to find a job while they hover over their kid at school! if they have so much time being lazy on welfare, they shouldn't have any trouble doing all that.

[dsc]

52. I don't mean every day

it takes only one time and then the kid never does it again. I have seen this happen with kids at the school I teach at. I think anyone who doesn't have a job can manage one day to help their kids. If they can't then maybe they should find other parents for that kid.

[Lordquinton]

54. This makes a lot of assumptions

Even more than the original bill does. What if the parents are busy during the day? other children, working a job that doesn't pay enough to support them, so they need extra help from the program. In a lot of states, these programs are based on having a job, or looking for one. Stop conflating "On Welfare" with "Lazy and doing nothing all day" you're only making the problem worse.

[dsc]

55. You can't work and get welfare

and sorry but frankly even if you do have a job, if you have a kid who repeatedly skips school then you need to get up off your ass and do what it takes to get that kid to stop skipping school or you need to find parents or a group home or someone who will get that kid to go to school. Once you become parents, the health, education, feeding, and welfare of those kids should be your job one, if it isn't, then you need to find someone for whom it will be job one.

[Lordquinton]

66. In California work is a requirement for assistance

or parts of it, it depends on a lot. I would think that making sure you get to your job so you can make enough money to take care of your children, so they feel like it is worth going to school.

You make a lot of assumptions and give very little leeway. people who are on welfare are in a very dire straight, if anything goes wrong your whole world can come crashing down in an instant. You can also very easily become a victim of success, you get a little better job and your support gets taken away, and everything collapses. This would add on top of that something you can't control, your life is now tied to someone else's actions (which as a teacher, you should know how wrong that is) what if your kid gets mad at you and gets bad grades on purpose, they don't know how much trouble they will cause. What if the teacher doesn't like the kid and makes it extremely hard for them? what if they are special needs kids thrust into the mainstream where they will fail. What if... you get my point?

This is a bad bill intended to punish those who can least afford it, and will create a further downward spiral. Do we fine parents if their children do poorly? do you think it would be fair to fine parents $500 for every F grade they get? $1000? how do you feel about that?

[dsc]

67. As I said I don't agree with tying it to grades

which apparently you didn't bother to read. But I do think that for say, grade 8 and under, it is not unreasonable to blame parents for attendance issues. I wouldn't have any problem fining parents who could afford it for the chronic truancy of their children. Again, parenthood should be job one for anyone who has kids and if it isn't then maybe they should find someone else to be parents.

[xmas74]

68. In Missouri

if a person is receiving TANF they are expected to put in nearly 30 hours a week in a volunteer position. That's why my local Salvation Army and Goodwill are often staffed with women with very young children. If you can get one of the "good jobs" you are expected to pick up trash or something of that nature. And you earn under $250 a month in Missouri for a single parent with one child-far below the minimum wage.

[arikara]

69. And what are they supposed to do with their babies

while they are volunteering? How are they supposed to pay for childcare making less than $250 per month???

Sweet Jesus.

[xmas74]

70. I don't know.

I think they qualify for child care assistance.

A close friend lost her job last year. She has two daughters, school age, and receives absolutely no child support. (Not by choice-they haven't caught the deadbeat yet. Missouri is really bad about that.) Anyway, after the unemployment ran out and she still hadn't found anything she applied for TANF. She called me two weeks ago, in tears, telling me all about the 30 hours a week volunteer hours she has to put in or can be taken off the program. She said that she now has weekly meetings with a caseworker from Missouri Valley Human Resource, who basically tells her how she's just not trying hard enough to find a job. (She has a master's degree and the jobs out there won't hire her-overqualified.)

At least she found her volunteer program. She spends 10 hours a week at a local thrift store, another 10 with Meals on Wheels and the last 10 picking up litter in local parks. The girls, ages 8 and 10, spend about 90 minutes a day alone after school because she can't find a babysitter. I live too far away to help her.

[arikara]

71. That is horrible

it would leave her very little time to look for paid work by the time she cares for her home and family and does the slave labor time. That just sucks it obviously is a republican invention. So called compassionate conservative "pro-life" bastards in action.

Edited to say that i have nothing against volunteering, but not forced to so that a person can feed their little kids. That is just wrong on so many levels.

[xmas74]

73. Since she has two children

she makes a bit more-but still under $400 a month. It still doesn't help.

[arikara]

74. I hope things change for her soon.

[xmas74]

75. She needs it.

I feel bad for her. And the state still isn't fighting for child support.

[Paulie]

12. Yeah, no pressure on the kid... 3rd grader gets a D, and 1 year old baby brother doesn't eat

WTF is wrong with these asshats???

[Incitatus]

27. It seems to me that they despise the poor and will do anything to diminish their benefits.

They will use whatever twisted logic they can. I don't think it's stupidity. I think it's just cruelness.

[Paulie]

32. It doesn't affect those making these statements, only THEM people have to worry about it

I so agree it's just cruel and sociopathic.

[nyquil_man]

13. Yes, put more pressure on children. The armed guards won't be nearly enough.

[kestrel91316]

14. Wow. Nothing could go wrong with THIS tactic.

Like, maybe........placing children in grave danger of abuse if they don't get that A in math and dad with his gun and vile temper doesn't like the prospect of a drop in benefits?

[Tx4obama]

19. Charges: Man Pointed AK-47 At Daughter Over Grades

DU OP today here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022259759

[kestrel91316]

20. My point exactly. I saw that today.

[Starry Messenger]

18. "The Hunger Games"

Hungry kids are shown to have a harder time in school...so let's make it even harder when they don't bootstrap up. It's like something out of Dickens.

[okaawhatever]

21. The logic is that if mommy or daddy aren't going to get their check they will make sure little

Johnny does his homework. He's saying that the teacher and schools can only do so much if the parents don't help. Well, it if worked that would be one thing. But what about all the other issues those parents face? These kids have enough problems without the pressure of being homeless. And can you imagine the teacher who is opposed to welfare in the first place? Yeah, we might see Johnny getting bad grades no matter what. It's just like all the anti-abortion legislation that is designed to make it so hard and cumbersome you don't even try.

[jberryhill]

22. What Satanic rituals inspire these people?

Seriously. These guys are getting some kind of supernatural evil help.

[mokawanis]

23. I never thought of it quite that way, Campfield

By driving poor children who attend under-funded schools further into hardship and poverty, we'll really be teaching their parents a lesson and improving school performance throughout the land!

[gophatercali1955g]

26. GOP = assholes

It's incredible how low these jerks can go. It's one thing to deprive a poor adult of his/her livelihood, but children? How can they treat people this way?

[Kalidurga]

28. If increased poverty produced good grades...

then wouldn't poor children already be excelling over their better off counterparts?

[Ed Suspicious]

30. Wouldn't that essentially make the child responsible for the household income? Great

idea! That little bit of knowledge - you get poor grades in math and we don't eat this semester - is just what academically struggling poor children and their families need to break the poverty cycle. How bout we make those lazy, stupid children work for a living. Get em in the mines and textile factories and the saw mills. I you can't cut it in school. genius, you best get a job.

[Lordquinton]

35. and when do the cuts take place?

is it by semester, so the family goes a whole 4 months without food? if they fail at the end of spring will they get a pass for the summer? or will they have to wait until the end of fall to eat again? seems like if they get bad grades they may as well drop out and get a job, if there were any to get.

[Ed Suspicious]

31. That welfare boogieman is as a scary beast!

[another_liberal]

33. No food for the dumb!

As a Missouri State Representative said in sponsoring a bill to cut funding for that State's school lunch program:

"Hunger is a great motivator."

[jmowreader]

36. That would work in a couple of ways

If hunger is such a great motivator, let's apply it to Congress by fining them for wasting the public's time:

Bill that doesn't make it out of committee: reimbursement of the government's expenses

Sponsoring or cosponsoring a bill that fails on the floor: one month's pay

Bill fails in the other chamber: two months' pay

Bill gets vetoed: four months' pay

Bill gets overturned in the courts: one year's pay

Filing an Obamacare-repeal bill: immediate loss of congressional seat, $5 million fine and forced attendance at 100 healthcare fundraisers.

[another_liberal]

38. Me likie . . .!

Me likie very much!

[surrealAmerican]

40. The problem with this sort of plan is that ...

... if we don't "feed" our congress people, others will be more than happy to - in exchange for a few favors.

[jmowreader]

72. People are already "feeding" our congress people

I would also like it publicized when a lawmaker gets fined.

There has GOT to be some way to cut down the number of bullshit bills that only two or three congress critters like.

[Ed Suspicious]

44. Good god.

[Honeycombe8]

39. Survival of the fittest, Republican style? You have a low IQ? Then you die from starvation.nt

[spanone]

41. Tennessee GOP Lawmakers = NEANDERTHALS

[TheMightyFavog]

42. Please apologize to the Neanderthals.

You have just insulted them by equating them to the TN GOPers.

[spanone]

51. here in tn....senate, house, governor....all pukes and all sucking the tea bottle....

[Solly Mack]

43. Idiot.

[liberal N proud]

53. Another fucked up idea from another fucked up Republican.

But I guess calling a Republican fucked up is redundant.

[Zoeisright]

56. That is the goddamned worst thing

I have EVER heard of repukes proposing. Those fucking assholes have reached a new low.

[REP]

57. Being that stupid should cause great physical pain.

[sad-cafe]

58. they just keep the stupid coming

don't they

[surrealAmerican]

60. Can you imagine being a teacher under those circumstances?

You'd be afraid to give a failing grade to any of your poorer students, for fear you would be starving them and their families.

[proud2BlibKansan]

63. I know I couldn't do it.

[lumberjack_jeff]

61. High stakes testing indeed. Bad grades? No food for you... or your little brother. n/t

[moondust]

62. GOP: Dumber by the minute.

How about instead we make corporate welfare contingent upon genuine NEED?

[BainsBane]

65. I'd like to see their report cards

from school. That would likely disqualify most of those legislators.

[Judi Lynn]

76. Stacey Campfield's the same clown who claimed the Black Caucus is racist in 2005

when they turned him down for membership.

[center]

Stacey Campfield[/center]

Stacey Campfield feuds with Black Caucus, subject of Psychology Today 'homophobia' blog

Blog weighs in on senator's AIDS comments
By Tom Humphrey

Posted August 30, 2012 at 5 a.m.

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/aug/30/stacey-campfield-feuds-with-black-caucus-subject/

[napoleon_in_rags]

77. So blocking mentally disabled kids from benefits. Great. nt

[Initech]

78. Average CEO to worker pay: 475:1. Average salary increase: non existent.

Yet kids grades will get them out of poverty. What the fuck planet are they living on???

[cynatnite]

79. Save the unborn, starve the children. Fucking bastards! n/t

[The Straight Story]

80. Tie tax breaks to stadiums to how a team performs

Lose more than 1 game, we cut em.

[proud2BlibKansan]

84. That works.

[dballance]

81. As I've Posted On Other Threads My Home State of TN Keeps Embarrassing Me

On my Face Book I posted this:

While I am all for encouraging parents to be involved with their children's education this is not the way to do it.

Making a poor family struggle more and perhaps causing parents to have to take perhaps yet another minimum wage job in addition to the one or more they might already have is asinine. It could cause the parents to be less available to their kids. Not to mention making them poorer and making it harder for the struggling child to get good nutrition so they are better able to learn is asinine.

Also, the tremendous mental stress and strain this would put on the struggling child is just cruel. If the legislator's goal is to make the children hate school because it causes their family to lose money in their TANF then this is a good way to do that. We certainly don't need to think of ways to make poor and minority kids hate school so that they are more likely to drop out. We all know how well that works out.

School is difficult enough for poor and minority kids already. Why this legislator thinks he knows more about how to motivate kids to learn than all the teachers and educators is just a typical function of the arrogant, angry old white men in the TN State Legislature.

If you want to encourage families to be involved in their kid's education and motivate the kids and make them feel good about learning Mr. Legislator I have a suggestion. How about let's put away the punitive measures that make people feel bad about themselves. Why don't you propose legislation to give the kids whose families are on TANF some kind of bonus at the end of each semester when the children do well. It doesn't have to be a cash bonus and it doesn't have to be huge. Gift cards to grocery stores or department stores would be great for their families. Then the child can feel a sense of reward for doing well. A sense of accomplishment rather than a sense of failure.

Why not try the carrot rather than the stick?

[longship]

82. Gees, Louise!

Madness!

[Live and Learn]

83. Sick. nt