Davis
State Rep. Cynthia Davis’ quip that hungry Missouri youngsters could work at McDonald’s — where, she says, employees eat free during their break — led her to a spot on talk show host Keith Olbermann’s “Worst Person in the World” segment.
Today, the O’Fallon, Mo. Republican sent out a statement, defending her opposition to a program that provides food to disadvantaged youth.
It reads, in part:
When government takes over a family function, like feeding children on a daily basis, we take a group of people who are capable and treat them like they are incapacitated. Some have a low view of parents, presuming most of them are inept and proposing governmental intervention as the only solution.
I believe most parents are good and want the blessing and privilege of feeding their children. When families are sharing a meal around the kitchen table, much more is happening. Mealtime is the primary time for shaping values and strengthening bonds. All of this is missing or diluted when it happens outside the family. Look into your own heart and ask, “What made a difference in my life as a child?” Was it standing in a line for a cafeteria style meal at school or was it sitting around the kitchen table with others in your family?
All the children being fed in this program have parents or guardians who are already functioning in a nurturing roll. They have not been judged to be neglectful or abusive in any way. Government should not take the care of their children from them. The right way to help is to treat the root cause, not the symptom. We must support the parents in providing for their children, not circumvent them.
Davis’ statement does not mention Olbermann. Instead, it appears targeted at the Post-Dispatch editorial board, which wrote a piece critical of the lawmaker after the McDonald’s comment appeared in a newsletter to voters.
“My weekly Capitol Report is a way for me to have two-way communications with my constituents,” Davis wrote in today’s response, “and not a national manifesto for you to mock, distort, and to be quoted out of context.”