The poor are always with Rep. Marshall, apparently, as once again he had to explain his notorious remarks in which he cited Jesus ("the poor are always with us") to justify not expanding Medicaid.
The Big First is the largest food-producing congressional district in the country--and yet there is food insecurity in our district, Rep. Marshall said in his opening remarks. He then invited Live Well Geary County to make a 30 minute presentation on efforts to get food to hungry people. These are efforts that square with right-wing philosophy--local, charitable, no entitlements involved. However, when Miranda Klugascherz, Live Well's Executive Director, returned to the microphone later on as a constituent, the unexpected happened. She called Marshall out for shaming the poor! The video below starts right after her remarks.
You can see that Marshall thinks his bad publicity was because people thought he was mean. He therefore lists his personal good works to prove that he is not. He has not yet realized that his bad publicity was also because he opposed a structural change in our society that would not only have provided health care but liberated people from having to be objects of charity.
Genie Boaz challenges him on just this point. How about a living wage--a structural change that would keep people from being hungry in the first place? Marshall's answer is interesting! He's a free-market guy, but he did not oppose a state minimum wage--just a federal one. Maybe he felt it safe to support a state living wage, given the state of our state!
After Marshall boasts about the number of good jobs in the state, Genie asks, "Why is there so much pov--" My recording cut off the rest of her sentence. Her whole question was: "Why is there so much poverty if there are all these good jobs out there?"
His answer: "We make it too comfortable for them." Can you believe it? When it comes to the poor, he just can't speak respectfully.
Salina attorney Janice Norlin challenged Rep. Marshall even further.
She also does pro-bono work for impoverished clients--but that doesn't keep her from opposing cuts to legal aid.
Charity alone cannot meet the existing need, she said. It's wrong to pretend that it can--or, that it's the fault of the poor if it doesn't.
In other words, Rep. Marshall, it's not all about you and how charitable you are or aren't. It's not all about the poor and the faults you think they have. It's about the structure of our society and the need for change so that education, family-supporting jobs, healthcare, and legal aid are available to all.
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