The Heritage Foundation is trying to tell us there's no hunger problem in America [View all]

[LongTomH]

The Heritage Foundation has a long, dishonorable history of trying to tell us that the poor in America are really well-off and we don't need to worry about them or spend tax money on them; especially, don't spend tax money on them. I got another dose of this yesterday while waiting at my doctor's office; I glanced at a copy of the Wall Street Journal. The editorial page carried an op-ed titled: The Myth of Starving Americans. Here are a few excerpts:

We take it as a given that hunger stalks America. We hear it in the news, we see a myriad of government and private organizations set up to feed the hungry. And we are often reminded of the greatest of all ironies—in the richest nation on earth, there are still those without enough to eat. But are these media portrayals of hunger in America accurate?

A hungry child is the ultimate third rail in the entitlement debate. Few candidates—Democrat, Republican or independent—would even question conventional wisdom on this particular issue because that would make them look indifferent to hungry children and that, of course, is political death.

<snip>

In a report published last September by the Heritage Foundation, researchers Robert Rector and Rachel Sheffield asked that very question. They found that, according to Census Bureau data for 2009 (the most recent year statistics are available), of the almost 50 million Americans classified as poor, 96% of the parents said their children were never hungry. Eighty-three percent of poor families reported having enough food to eat, and 82% of poor adults said they were never hungry at any time in 2009 due to a lack of food or money.

Stuart Varney, of Fox News has been hyping the Heritage Foundation report, and Media Matters is taking him to task for it.

The damndest thing is: The Marketwatch website, which is associated with the Wall Street Journal, is carrying a press release from Vicki Escarra, President and CEO of Feeding America: Nation's Largest Hunger Relief Organization Responds to State of the Union Message:

This evening President Obama delivered his State of the Union Address to Congress and the nation. The President spoke about the need to restore the American values of responsibility and fairness for all in order to ensure opportunity for all Americans.

Those values have been compromised in recent years by a struggling economy that has left 1 in 6 men, women and children in America at risk of hunger. There is no greater evidence of the need for long-term solutions to restore opportunity than the number of Americans struggling to put food on the table, including a number of middle class families seeking food assistance for the first time.