Here’s some good news for conservative Christians who like to watch children starve.
Even though Oklahoma is home to over 500,000 poor kids who deal with “food insecurity,” Governor Kevin Stitt recently declined to enroll our state in a federal program that would provide $40 per month to lower-income families to buy groceries, because you know, Joe Biden.
Here are details via The Oklahoman:
Despite one of every five Oklahoma children living through food insecurity, the state won't participate in a new federal summer food program for children.
Gov. Kevin Stitt's office cited uncertainty about how the federal government will administer the program.
The Summer EBT program would have doled out $40 per month this summer for children who get free or reduced price meals during the school year. Families would be able to purchase groceries using an electronic benefits transfer, or EBT card. It's similar to the pandemic-era children's food program that recently expired, which gave eligible families $120 per child to buy food during summer months.
As we all know, Kevin Stitt is a hard-core Evangelical conservative who aspires to live a Christ-like life, so we can’t really blame him for turning down federal funding to feed hungry children.
It's been a minute since I went to vacation Bible school, but I believe it was Matthew 15:32 when Jesus said...
"I have compassion for these people; they have been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, but then again. we can’t just accept free bread from those liberal Romans without knowing all the rules! I could lead to socialism!!!”
Seriously, how can you waltz around as some hard-core, holy-rolling Jesus freak - but then turn down money to help poor families feed their kids this summer - without looking like a greedy, out-of-touch asswipe hypocrite moron?
The answer is you can’t.
I guess Stitt is aware of those bad optics, so he’s made sure to participate in some hastily organized media opps to try to save face and rattle off excuses as to why he’s keeping food away from hungry children.
His rationale is A) you can’t trust the gubment, and B) the 500,000 Oklahoma kids who go hungry each month already have plenty of help and assistance to buy the food they don’t get…
Although this is a bad deal for hungry kids, their families, and the grocery industry that would have gotten some business out of the deal, I guess there are some positives.
Poor, malnourished hungry kids are more apt to shoplift for food, so the refusal to accept federal funds can help our local law enforcement industry. It can also boost the local film industry because the odds of a food charity filming an infomercial in Oklahoma just got higher.
Stay with The Lost Ogle. We’ll keep you advised.