Happy Monday, and let's begin the week by considering the term means test. It's relevant because VP candidate Tim Walz has been accused of being a dangerous flaming radical far-left insane socialist communist, by Trump and Vance and their mouthpieces.
Because Walz, Governor of Minnesota, gave breakfast and lunch to public school children.
But the commie pinko part is that his program gave food to anyone who asked for it, with no requirement to be on welfare and/or receiving food stamps. In other words, he applied no means test.
THE HORROR! Said absolutely no one, at least no one with a heart and perhaps a brain. Hungry students are not good students - that's just the way it is. And Minnesota - and America - has the coin for enough scrambled eggs and ham sandwiches for everybody.
The concern of some is that those who don't need assistance will take advantage of the situation. Picture it and you can certainly understand the concern: Rich kids noshing on free bagels - maybe even with cream cheese.
Could and does it happen? Sure. But who cares?
Isn't the occasional middle-class or even wealthy child eating free worth it to avoid stigmatizing every poor kid? Before Walz's (extremely popular) policy was implemented, underprivileged children had to wear different colored wristbands or show a special card in cafeteria lines to get their free or subsidized meals. If I were poor, I know that wouldn't have made me uncomfortable, not one bit: I was far too secure as a child and teenager. Aren't most kids, especially those without money?
“When meals were free temporarily during COVID, it changed the dynamic in the lunchroom. It made it feel like an equal playing field,” for kids, she said. “It made all the stigma go away,”
Yet do those bitching about feeding school children without a means test want one at the other end of the spectrum, as in:
Can we means test Social Security and Medicare?
Look, I have been reasonably successful, and would NOT want this taken away - it is integral to our financial future. Because we're not rich - at least not by today's standards.
But if your net worth is $25 million or more, couldn't your Social Security check be put to better use? Like implementing Minnesota's program in all 50 states, such that every public school child could have a free breakfast and lunch?
Or perhaps you'd rather cut taxes further for the top 1%? Again?
I'll conclude with a quote from the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank website, where I've been volunteering for a while. This is in answer to the question, "Who qualifies for food?"
Anyone who considers themselves in need of food qualifies for assistance from Food Bank programs and pantries.
It is important to us that anyone hungry be able to access food with dignity — without having to prove their income or household circumstances. Feelings of shame or embarrassment can prevent people from accessing our services.
Or: Perhaps those who don't have to worry about such things can stop making it harder for those who do?
FROM THE UNWASHED MASSES
These two were decidedly not UNWASHED in Breckenridge, Colorado this past Friday. Congrats and much love to Mr. and Mrs. Baron Belgium. As often happens with the story's participants, Byron Browne IV couldn't help but foreshadow an upcoming chapter of Maybe It Was Destiny.
He joined the exclusive club of best-in-class professionals that refused my welcoming arms and a partnership stake in Casa Integration. But not until 2008, and after I had done the heavy lifting. It clearly still resonates - maybe even obscenely so.
Is this a reference to that pussy, Byron Browne:
"Since attracting a full partner hadn't worked, . . . "
Well, as they say: If the corporate loafer fits . . . look forward to an upcoming chapter that tells this story.
And our neighbor and fellow long-time resident Lara Mohair joins many of us in being sad Liverpool Lil's is gone forever.
Everyone in my family misses Lil’s so much - we definitely lost a dear family friend with that place! My sister and I still laugh that no place had “favorable lighting” like Lil’s did.
And all the characters at and behind the bar - ourselves included!
What Lara said.
Thank you for reading this newsletter.
KLUF
Let's start the week and wind down the summer with some Killer and modern reggae. Here are The Green and their 2011 release Ways & Means.
