# SC Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer compares poor children to stray animals **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 29, 2010, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sc-lt-gov-andre-bauer-compares-poor-children-to-stray-animals/526824 "2010-01-29T00:02:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sc-lt-gov-andre-bauer-compares-poor-children-to-stray-animals/526824/1 "2010-01-29T00:02:15Z")
[Because, they, you know, breed if you feed them.](http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2010/01/25/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry6139186.shtml/S.C.) (Which is undeniably true, I guess . . .) > [@](#): > > (AP)South Carolina Lt. Governor Andre Bauer, who hopes to succeed fellow Republican Mark Sanford as his state’s governor, drew a comparison between government help for poor people and “feeding stray animals” – who, he noted, “breed.” > > “My grandmother was not a highly educated woman, but she told me as a small child to quit feeding stray animals,” Bauer said during a town hall meeting, as the Greenville News reported over the weekend. “You know why? Because they breed. You’re facilitating the problem if you give an animal or a person ample food supply. They will reproduce, especially ones that don’t think too much further than that. And so what you’ve got to do is you’ve got to curtail that type of behavior. They don’t know any better.” > > As the Greenville News notes, more than half of the students in South Carolina participate in a program that allows them to get their lunch for free, or at a reduced cost. (Surprised this Pitting hasn’t been done yet – _The Daily Show_ covered it just two nights ago.) ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sc-lt-gov-andre-bauer-compares-poor-children-to-stray-animals/526824/2 "2010-01-29T00:08:11Z")
Here ya go: [Another Stupid Idea](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12046843&postcount=1054) ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sc-lt-gov-andre-bauer-compares-poor-children-to-stray-animals/526824/3 "2010-01-29T00:12:32Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > [Because, they, you know, breed if you feed them.](http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2010/01/25/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry6139186.shtml/S.C.) (Which is undeniably true, I guess . . .) > > (Surprised this Pitting hasn’t been done yet – _The Daily Show_ covered it just two nights ago.) It still hasn’t. You dumped a link, and pasted some text, but otherwise apparently have nothing to say on the subject. That’s weaksauce. If you want something pitted, then fucking pit it. ---
**Author:** ![coffeecat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coffeecat/32/3405_2.png) [@coffeecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coffeecat)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sc-lt-gov-andre-bauer-compares-poor-children-to-stray-animals/526824/4 "2010-01-29T00:12:36Z")
Some other good ideas are reintroducing timber wolves and having a hunting season. :rolleyes: In fairness, even his fellow Republicans think he went off the deep end. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sc-lt-gov-andre-bauer-compares-poor-children-to-stray-animals/526824/5 "2010-01-29T00:13:52Z")
Well, at least he puts his cards right there on the table. If you cut programs for poor people, they will stop breeding. Perhaps they will move away to somewhere else, or perhaps they will simply starve to death. Whatever. He may also be thinking that they will magically rise up and get productive jobs selling sneakers at the local Walmart or something. You know, get one of those many, many jobs that are flooding South Carolina at the moment. (Hmmm.wait… it seems that the unemployment rate there is 12.6% at the moment. Probably not that then.) ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sc-lt-gov-andre-bauer-compares-poor-children-to-stray-animals/526824/6 "2010-01-29T00:24:36Z")
I actually liked his “save” a couple of days later better than the original comment. > [@](#): > > Bauer was back-pedaling Monday — but doing so without offering an apology for his ill-chosen words. He said his point was “_you don’t just keep feeding that animal, but you bring it in and love it, and if you can’t take care of it, you take it to a shelter where someone can_.” Exactly. He wasn’t saying poor people breeding is a bad thing in and of itself, but that homeless shelters should spay and neuter and kids from impoverished families should be taken to shelters where the cute ones can find homes and the other ones can be put to sleep like Jesus intended. The irony is that Bauer was from a “free lunch” family. His parents divorced, his dad had unemployment periods and deadbeat dad periods, and his mother sometimes had to turn to public assistance. Nothing wrong with that at all, but you’d think it would instill a bit of compassion, especially in a ‘Christian’. ---
**Author:** ![ivn1188](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e480ec/32.png) [@ivn1188](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivn1188)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sc-lt-gov-andre-bauer-compares-poor-children-to-stray-animals/526824/7 "2010-01-29T00:43:55Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > It still hasn’t. You dumped a link, and pasted some text, but otherwise apparently have nothing to say on the subject. That’s weaksauce. If you want something pitted, then fucking pit it. Fuck yeah. ---
**Author:** ![3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/47e85d/32.png) [@3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3_20_59_or_bust)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sc-lt-gov-andre-bauer-compares-poor-children-to-stray-animals/526824/8 "2010-01-29T00:46:21Z")
Well, he seems like a shitty Lt. Governor, but I thought he did a great job when he was on Homicide: Life on the Street. What? ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sc-lt-gov-andre-bauer-compares-poor-children-to-stray-animals/526824/9 "2010-01-29T01:10:22Z")
> [@3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](#): > > Well, he seems like a shitty Lt. Governor, but I thought he did a great job when he was on Homicide: Life on the Street. > > What? Yeah, and I thought he wasn’t a Lt. Governor of South Carolina, but a Corporal in Massachusetts. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sc-lt-gov-andre-bauer-compares-poor-children-to-stray-animals/526824/10 "2010-01-29T01:42:32Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > … but you’d think it would instill a bit of compassion, especially in a ‘Christian’. From what I’ve seen, when pretty decent people experience poverty, they tend to become more compassionate and generous. When not so good people experience poverty, they become bitter and stingy. Another reason to fight against poverty, it doesn’t make good people that much better, and it makes not so good people ten times worse. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sc-lt-gov-andre-bauer-compares-poor-children-to-stray-animals/526824/11 "2010-01-29T01:42:57Z")
I envy whoever’s running against this guy. Because politicians dream of having an opponent say something like this. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sc-lt-gov-andre-bauer-compares-poor-children-to-stray-animals/526824/12 "2010-01-29T01:52:57Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > It still hasn’t. You dumped a link, and pasted some text, but otherwise apparently have nothing to say on the subject. That’s weaksauce. If you want something pitted, then fucking pit it. :dubious: I beg your pardon, I should think this is the kind of thing that Pits itself. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sc-lt-gov-andre-bauer-compares-poor-children-to-stray-animals/526824/13 "2010-01-29T01:53:47Z")
Well, if it don’t, sure as hell ought to! ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sc-lt-gov-andre-bauer-compares-poor-children-to-stray-animals/526824/14 "2010-01-29T01:54:41Z")
He’s the reason Mark Sanford still has job security. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sc-lt-gov-andre-bauer-compares-poor-children-to-stray-animals/526824/15 "2010-01-29T02:07:32Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > :dubious: I beg your pardon, I should think this is the kind of thing that Pits itself. Nah. We want to be entertained. Tell us how your fury burns with the heat of your asshole after a jalapeno and tequila bender. Show us your outrage. Make us feel the injustice. A well crafted rant can be a thing of beauty. Instead, you’ve demonstrated that you know how to start a thread, cut & paste text, and include a link. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sc-lt-gov-andre-bauer-compares-poor-children-to-stray-animals/526824/16 "2010-01-29T02:23:57Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Nah. We want to be entertained. Tell us how your fury burns with the heat of your asshole after a jalapeno and tequila bender. Show us your outrage. Make us feel the injustice. A well crafted rant can be a thing of beauty. Instead, you’ve demonstrated that you know how to start a thread, cut & paste text, and include a link. It sounds like you should be pitting the OP. Unless you’re all talk. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sc-lt-gov-andre-bauer-compares-poor-children-to-stray-animals/526824/17 "2010-01-29T02:27:08Z")
The population of Europe doubled between 1800 and 1850, due to it’s cozy, bouncy social safety net that Charles Dickens took gross artistic license in omitting. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sc-lt-gov-andre-bauer-compares-poor-children-to-stray-animals/526824/18 "2010-01-29T02:28:57Z")
That’s because Europe didn’t have good leash laws. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sc-lt-gov-andre-bauer-compares-poor-children-to-stray-animals/526824/19 "2010-01-29T02:32:02Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > It sounds like you should be pitting the OP. > > Unless you’re all talk. 😃 I’m not mad at the OP. I suppose I could MPSIMS him, but that’s not how I roll. ---
**Author:** ![ivn1188](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e480ec/32.png) [@ivn1188](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivn1188)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2010, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sc-lt-gov-andre-bauer-compares-poor-children-to-stray-animals/526824/20 "2010-01-29T02:45:27Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > It sounds like you should be pitting the OP. > > Unless you’re all talk. 😃 Problem is, anytime someone does that, a bunch of loathsome toads come along and cry “OP is a mean asshole” and “what gives the OP the right to tell everyone what to do”. This is usually accomplished in the style of this thread’s OP, by which I mean uninventive and dull. Then **Guinistatia** comes along near the end of the first page to agree with the majority, which generally coincides with the appearance of the pitted poster to either pull a **FinnAgain** and froth about “You’re an idiot! A stupid idiot! You’re so idiotic, you’re stupid!” for about 14 paragraphs, or a simpering, apologetic post: “I’m sorry, I usually post about puppies and polyamory in MPSIMS, but I was so mad I typed the word f\*ck in my post, so there.” Of course, the people with the shitty rants really don’t _read_ other threads, so the point of pitting them for being dull is moot. And of course, the pit certainly allows criticism of the OP, so why not do it right here? ETA: and apologies to **Oakminster** ; I am sure your status as a valued part of this message board will be irreparably tarnished by mere association with yours truly. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sc-lt-gov-andre-bauer-compares-poor-children-to-stray-animals/526824.md?page=2)