On one of my trips to Jeff City this spring, I was talking to a small group of Democratic reps, and the subject of a recent dinner provided by lobbyists came up. I can't remember now which rep it was who said that the food was good, and she'd have gone back for seconds on something, but she figured she'd leave it for Cynthia. Then they explained to me how Davis packs up what's left on the tables at any Thursday evening meals and takes it home to feed her children.
These are children who have parents already providing meals for their children. This program could have an unintended consequence of diminishing parental involvement. Why have meals at home with your loved ones if you can go to the government soup kitchen and get one for free? This could have the effect of breaking apart more families.
What she gleans from the tables in the Capitol is quite different from those free summer meals. She's going to take that home and serve it in her own kitchen at a family meal. They'll say grace first and smile lovingly at each other as they eat the food provided by lobbyists.
See the difference, Keith? She's not a thief; she's more like a ... forager. Sheesh, give her a break.
Next thing you know, he'll be giving her trouble for being a "birther". (We hope.)
It's almost a shame Davis is termed out next year. It would be so satisfying, after all this hoopla, to see a Democrat beat her fanny in the 19th.
Monday night on Countdown, Keith Olbermann quoted Cynthia Davis' objection to feeding poor kids free meals in the summer. She asserts that churches can handle such problems "if it is warranted", thus saving taxpayer dollars, and that "hunger can be a positive motivator" for children under 18 to get a job. Olbermann's response?
One in five kids in Missouri is already motivated by hunger, Miss Davis. And last year, because the meals are offered at churches, the nine and half million dollars in federal money spent produced three million, seven hundred thousands of meals at a cost of about two and a half bucks each. It is embarrassing enough that Cynthia "let them eat McDonalds" Davis is a public servant paid by tax dollars, but she is also the chairwoman of the Missouri Special Standing Committee on Families and Children. It would seem that her advocacy of hunger would disqualify her from that job and that we'd be better off if she was working at a McDonalds.
Olbermann concludes that Davis is starved, that her brain is starved of intelligence and humanity. He names her, for the day, the "worst person in the world."
Olbermann gave her a good public spanking, but the P-D still had the most telling line: "State Rep. Cynthia Davis, R-O'Fallon, is staking out a strong position on child hunger: She's for it."
