Obama's Mother and Food Stamps, A Poor Upbringing?
By Cheetah772 Posted in 2008 — Comments (28) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Following Obama's recent dumb comment about small town Americans clinging to guns and religion, he defended himself by claiming that the notion of elitist is absurd because of his poor upbringing. He claimed that his mother was on food stamps, so how could he be an elitist in his upbringing? For a while, that bothered me a good deal. Why? We all know that Obama has repeatedly lied in the past on certain issues, and will do again in order to get by. Do we dare to take his word at face value?
Read on...
The real issue here is about his upbringing, and whether it was in fact a poor one. I did a little amateur research on the Internet (may God bless Al Gore, the "inventor" of Internet! Just kidding) to find out more about his mother living on food stamps. What kind of circumstances did lead his mother to apply for welfare checks?
Here is the Time article written by Joe Klein in 2006, long before Obama decided to run for president. Back then, he was seen as the rising star within Democratic Party, and he didn't worry about critics breathing down his neck.
Here is the key excrept from the article:
"For example, I was going to a fancy prep school, and my mother was on food stamps while she was getting her Ph.D."
This is what Obama said. He went to a fancy private school, and his mother was studying for a Ph.D. So, please do tell me was his upbringing a poor one? Please. I'm begging, no, make it daring, you to tell me otherwise.
What kind of fancy private school did he attend? Punahou Academy in Honolulu, Hawaii. The tuition at that school today costs over $15,000. I don't know how much it was back in Obama's days, but I gather it was an expensive school. So, how could he attend this school if his mother were on food stamps? Where did his mother get that kind of money? Scholarship? I don't know.
But that's not the real issue here, again I do emphasize Obama's claim that he grew up in a poor household. I suppose it depends on what definition of poor you use. If Obama didn't get his favorite toy, did that mean he is automatically poor? Of course not. Equally valid is the fact her mother was studying for her Ph.D, that meant she had money to pay for tuition and fees. Did that mean she wasn't actually poor as Obama may have claimed though for a while they did live on food stamps?
The real truth here is that Obama lied to us. He owes us an honest explanation of his upbringing. It may be that his mother and Obama did face tough times, but to claim that they were poor is really stretching the truth, don't you all think so? Obama is indeed an elitist for two reasons: he attended a "fancy prep school" and his mother studied to receive her Ph.D. He grew up in a well educated and liberal household. If at any point during his childhood, he did not entertain the notion of elitist, fine, but right now, he is acting like an elitist, period.
So, Senator Obama, will you please step up and tell us the truth for once in your life, please? No? Okay, but don't expect me to vote for you. Bye.
What a great find.
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
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Thou art the Great Cat, the avenger of the Gods, and the judge of words...-Inscription on the Royal Tombs at Thebes
I am about the same age as Obama. Which means he was going to
prep school in the 60's in Hawaii (maybe I am wrong, but it
is a very liberal state)his mother was a single female -
my guess, the state paid for most, if not all, of their tuition.
If I am right, it reinforces HIS view of why government needs to step in and solve all issues.
How do you look at American schools objectively from the schools of the beautiful island of Hawaii??
Obama was born in 1961. He was hardly attending prep school then. In fact, he graduated in 1979, at the height of the failed Carter presidency.
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Just a typical, small town, white girl...
I knew quite a few poor people that made it into private schools. Their families put all they have into it - or they get scholarships because they are extraordinary students.
And who says you have to be rich to become a Ph.D.? None of my professors were rich as kids, nor were they rich during their schooling. Having a Ph.D. does not automatically mean you grew up rich. Most Ph.D.'s that I know are STILL paying their debts after many years.
Stop jumping to conclusions and think for a few moments.
And if his mother was attending college to get her PhD at the time he was there, I can entirely believe the state paid for both of them to attend, she collected food stamps, and neither of them scrimped for anything. If you're in college and are not someone's dependent, you get grants and what not out the wahzoo to be there. You are eligible for food stamps, and at most universities can eat fairly well on their food plans. All of which reads like Obama having learned how to work the system by playing the victim from his mother.
But hey, I'm just a middle class white boy from a small town in PA who wound up having to pay all of the college tab because I had the great fortune to have had my mother put half of the inheritance she received when her mother died in my name (and were subsequently told I would have been eligible for aid if the money hadn't been in my name) so I could go to the state university. So what would I know?
...funding to complete a Ph.D. can be easier than getting funding for the university education prior. Not to mention I'm sure there's some college out there that would cut some breaks for a single mother trying to get an advanced degree, including assistantships and grants.
As with most university education, graduate work isn't so much a sign of your wealth as it is your willingness to accept debt. If your prospects at present aren't that good, I'm sure said willingness is pretty high.
"No matter how much lipstick you put on the taxation pig, it's still a pig... and it's currently snout-down in your wallet." - Michael Fisk
I think some of the comments in this thread about Obama are a bit disingenuous... Especially about living well while earning a PhD. I got my PhD from the University of Illinois (Urbana) in 1997. It was in Physiology. As long as I had a research or more likely a teaching assistantship my tuition was waived and we were paid to work. However, we weren't exactly well compensated, my last year I think my stipend was a little less than $13000/year. I was single, and I have to say it was hard to make end meet on that amount... I'm still paying the student loans off to prove it (I'm still in academia, so no big salary for me). I think Obama's mother did her degree in the humanities, so I bet the assistantships were harder to come by. I knew lots of people with families when I was in grad school who were barely making it financially. I wouldn't be surprised if the Obamas may have been on public assistance at some point. This guy's got so many other negatives let's harp on those instead.
stamps to Obama and his mother because she wants a PHD? Her butt had a child and needed to be out working, feeding her own child...not taking a handout from the goverment...what she couldn't get a job with her Masters?....that is the crux of this bs....no one should have the government pay their way with food, housing and grants so that they can further THEIR college goals...that is a sickness...that I who gets up and goes to work 8-5 everyday should have my tax dollars pay for the welfare mother and child while she attends college is DISGUSTING.
There is your two America's the one who works their a$$ off and the other who takes their money.
Freedom of Religion not Freedom from Religion
It redistributes the wealth all right. From those that create it to those that are connected.
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
"Jaded" explains a lot about you.... I guess in your world view the only people who should get advanced jobs (MDs, lawyers, scientists, etc....) are those who have a trust fund to pay for their education. Talk about two Americas, those rich enough to pay for an education and those who don't and should be out working and not sponging off the government. And just for your info, my parents helped pay for my undergrad at a state University but I still worked 20h per week. I worked for and was compensated (barely) for my grad school eduction by teaching pissy undergrads. You sound a lot like my brother, who resents my education (because he didn't take enough interest in his own, not due to lack of opportunity) who ironically is better off financially because he had a 10 year jump start on his career. However, it's a choice I made so I could do what I love, I accept that. Jaded you exemplify one half of the grand dichotomy of my life, conservatives who cannot believe that someone as educated as myself could be conservative; and liberals, including 95% of everyone I work with, who are horrified to learn that someone with my education could be conservative.
" guess in your world view the only people who should get advanced jobs (MDs, lawyers, scientists, etc....) are those who have a trust fund to pay for their education"
I guess you would be wrong...you see in my worldview you go to college get your 1st degree while you are with your parents and than if you feel you must do more you work and go to school and pay for your own damn college....not off of my tax dollars.
"You sound a lot like my brother, who resents my education (because he didn't take enough interest in his own, not due to lack of opportunity) who ironically is better off financially because he had a 10 year jump start on his career."
Sounds like a smart man and you sound like the word "conservative" should not be anywhere near your name with a statement of " However, it's a choice I made so I could do what I love, I accept that."
I am thrilled you do what you "love" as long as my tax dollars don't front the bill for you. How gracious of you to accept your fate for doing what you love.
Freedom of Religion not Freedom from Religion
This is silliness. You're arguing over details. Clearly the Government has a roll in funding education, the question is at what level and for how long.
If you think that federal student loans are a bad idea, fine, but given how prosperity has grown since the G.I. Bill, I think that's a pretty tough sell.
"I ain't never votin' fo another Democrat so long as I can draw breath! I'll vote for a dog first!" - Leola Thomas
Exactly where in the Constitution or in accepted conservative Principles do you find a right to having your education paid for by the rest of the taxpayers? Or even that the Federal Government should have a role in that process?
We have tuition rates rising at insane rates. Yet the value of the education is not
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
Sweetness and Light has done some research. Gotta love that world wide web.
You can read about it all here.
His claims to have lived a poor life are just another example of the steaming pile of b*lls**t he has been peddling to the American people.
When will America wake up?
Just a typical, small town, white girl...
sleuthing. Thanks!
"I believe we must adjourn this meeting to some other place." - The last recorded words of Adam Smith.
His first problem is how did he qualify for food stamps with his mother purportedly receiving a stipend, and his school paid for.
The second problem is how did Obama's mom feel about taking food stamps when others are much worse off?
The third problem is that citing food stamps is designed to cast Obama's lot in with poor people. This is horse hockey. Being "poor" is not a financial condition or an economic condition. Being "poor" is much more than that. The truly "poor" don't leverage opportunities like PhDs and private school scholarships. Just because program A and program B allow the poor to participate doesn't mean that 1) the poor know about the program, and 2) that the poor have an inherent desire to participate in the program.
Obama was likely not poor financially. And if he was, he certainly wasn't poor in the opportunity arena, and many folks think the latter is a true driver of poverty in this nation.
... I realize graduate students believe they are poor, but they are poor by choice as a sacrifice to earn their graduate degrees. They could leave school and work whenever they want so they don't have to rely on food stamps, so I'm inclined not to have much sympathy for people poor by choice.
There were stories in the New York papers during that period about grad students qualifying for Food Stamps.
It seems that the Food Stamp people would qualify students who were not actually living with their parents based on the student's reported income from their parents while, in the case of student's living at home, total family income was counted. Thus, a billionaire's son or daughter could qualify for Food Stamps if the family accountant knew his business.
New York City actually had a radio talk show host, Bernard Meltzer, who speciallized in showing how well-off people could qualify for poverty funds such as food stamps and nursing home care. His program was very popular.
are smarter than this. They want to talk about the real
issues that they are facing. Who Barack Obama really is doesn't mean a thing.....
Really....I swear I heard him say so.
" Got to love the Lord for making things like that."
Morally Compromised
What a horrible distraction from the real issues of the day ...
We should be discussing how rasing taxes will turn this economy around ...
Or how free health care for everyone including illegals will solve the credit crunch ...
Or how the Democrats will make us all safer by bringing home the troops now so that none of the terrorist attacks that have happened in America since 2002 will be repeated ... Oh and since "nobody can predict" what will happen in Iraq if we leave today lets not worry about a bloodbath that could engulf the entire Persian Gulf ...
Or how getting rid of NAFTA or any trade agreements for that matter will bring back those factories in Pennsylvania that closed 20 years ago ...
The Dems are full of great ideas for running this country (into the ground)...
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"The most significant events in life are usually the result of unplanned choices."
I've heard that yes, his mom was a single parent but his grandparents helped her out a lot and supposedly they were pretty well off. I'm not sure if it is true or not.... If it is true I think it is very low of him and not reflective of your "typical poor single mother." We have all heard the stories of people buying food at the supermarket with food stamps and/or WIC with like 4 kids but also driving away in a brand new Chevy Tahoe...
found out your information the "old" fashioned way.....the internet...now if the MSM would do the same.
Freedom of Religion not Freedom from Religion