Ted Kennedy's Big, Fat Lie: '36 Million Americans Go To Bed Hungry Every Night'

Fox News Sunday/NewsBusters ^ | Mark Finkelstein

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Chris Wallace had Ted Kennedy cornered. The Fox News Sunday host displayed Kennedy's 1995 bitter condemnation of welfare reform: "legislative child abuse . . . let them eat cake." It should be noted that as Wallace began to reference the statement, Kennedy objected, blustering that "this is 2006" - as if his past misjudgments are irrelevant even though he would he has apparently learned nothing from them.

Wallace went on to make the point that the employment rate among unmarried women has soared and the child poverty rate has dropped. He put it to Kennedy: "hasn't welfare reform worked?" Fighting back, the senior senator from Massachusetts claimed that Wallace's numbers on child poverty "are absolutely wrong," asserting there has been an increase in the number of children living in poverty in the United States. He then dropped this bomb:

"We have 36 million Americans that are going to bed hungry every night. 36 million Americans! And 12 million of those are children!"

View video of Kennedy's 36-million claim here.

Kennedy's claim is flatly false. According to the USDA, 13 million households, containing 36 million people, reported that at least one household member was food insecure in a recent year. “Food insecure” means that “, such households at some time during the year were uncertain of having, or unable to acquire, enough food for all their members because they had insufficient money or other resources."

Yet Kennedy counted every person who might have been "uncertain" of having enough money to get food - at any time during the year - as "going to bed hungry every night."

As has been widely noted, the major food-related problem for poor children isn't hunger - it's obesity.Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation is an expert on these issues. Here's what he recently wrote on the subject:

"While hunger due to a lack of financial re-sources does occur in the United States, it is limited in scope and duration. According to the USDA, on a typical day, fewer than one American in 200 will experience hunger due to a lack of money to buy food."

In a country of 300 million, that means something less than 1.5 million people.

It's a shame Chris Wallace didn't have these facts handy. But on thing is clear: Kennedy's claim that 36 million go to bed hungry every night is nothing short of . . .a big, fat lie.

Contact Mark at mark@gunhill.net

[cripplecreek]

Were the recent KGB revelations about Fat Ted mentioned?

[KeyLargo]

FOX news is sinking deeper into oblivion.

[operation clinton cleanup]

Old Ted has never went to bed hungry....

[x_plus_one]

The libs are guilty until proven innocent when it comes to bald faced lying.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Uncle Teddy was on Fox News Sunday? Snowmen are dancing in Hell.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Sometimes I go to bed hungry at night. Then I get up at 2am and have a snack. ;)

They also do the same thing with the BOGUS "Uninsured Americans" number of "44 million" that they like to throw out there like read meat. If one person is uninsured for ONE DAY, they lump them in there.

Why, here's a quote using that figure right here! ;)

"This important work gives a voice to some of the 44 million Americans who are at the center of the debate over coverage for the uninsured in this country. While there is much discussion of how to address this crisis, these individuals tell us why we must solve this problem: the costs and consequences of living without health insurance are dire."--Karen Davis, Ph.D., President of the Commonwealth Fund

http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/10379.html

[Doogle]

and at least 64 million Americans would SAVE A DROWNING WOMAN!!!!!!!


Doogle

[Renkluaf]

OK, so Ted's a cheater, murderer, traitor and lier. What's your point?

[bonfire]

Excellent!

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

I went to bed hungry last night too Ted, but it was because I left the steak out too long while I was out all day.

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Fox News is sinking deeper into oblivion.

Why do you say that? I thought it was useful to have Kennedy on to expose his dinosaur liberalism. Wallace didn't have the facts on hunger handy, but he did confront Kennedy on how wrong he had been about welfare reform.

[aculeus]

bttt

[Wage Slave]

Good photoshop job, but I woulda stuck a McDonald's bag in his left paw.

[Spok]

Ted Kennedy's caloric intake alone could probably feed half of these kids. If the libs aren't tell us about hungry children, they're threatening McDonalds with sanctions for making poor kids fat.

[ANGGAPO]

Teddy Baby is the biggest BS artiste in congress. How they can tolerate this man as an associate is beyond belief.

[MizSterious]

These jerks think they can just say anything, anything at all, without so much as a shred of proof. Unfortunately, there are too many in this country who hear such nonsense, and "wisely" nod their empty heads while applauding how "caring" these 'Rats are. Gag.

[jazusamo]

If that's true it's because 99.9% percent of them are on diets due to overeating for years and years. The Swimmer should try going to bed hungry and exercise something besides his drinking arm for a change.

[hgro]

Just another felon that came to a bridge he drove off of leaving the vicitims to drown.

[Popman]

It's hard to believe the democratic party is letting this piece of walking excrement on live T.V.

I bet the DLC and DNC wish he would just STFU.

Personally, it's great. Everytime that fat murdering slob gets on T.V. we have an opportunity to portray the democratic as it really is rather than the Obamaizing of the demo party.