A Spork in the Drawer: Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?

posted by gyma

Well, actually it's 3 dimes, but who's counting?

Recently the Colorado legislature (now held by a Republican majority) failed to approve a request for $124,000 to cover the cost of providing free breakfast to children from families earning 130% or less of the federal poverty level. For a family of 5, that's $33,527 a year.

Ken Lambert, a Republican who likely represents Michelle Malkin, had this to say about his vote:

"As a family guy myself with children and grandchildren, I take a very strong responsibility to earn money to feed my own family," said Sen. Kent Lambert, R-Colorado Springs, who voted against the request.

He said charities could step up if some families have difficulty paying the fees. [emphasis added]

"I think if that need is out there, there are charitable groups that are out there that go way, way beyond that to take care of families in need," Lambert said. "Out here in El Paso County, for example, we have churches all over the place."

If you have 3 school age kids, that extra 30 cents a day equals $4.50 a week. Although that seems trivial, it really isn't if you are unemployed and can't pay the rent, let alone feed your kids on the small amount loaded onto those JPMorgan Chase debit cards. And let's not forget that El Paso County is only one of 64 counties in Colorado, and not all are teeming with do-gooders just itching to provide free meals to poor kids in exchange for saving their souls from the devil.

Lambert and his ilk were excoriated by the LTE and editorial board, and rightfully so. And here's the rub. Lambert lives approximately 70 miles from the state capitol building. In 2007, the state legislature increased their per diem from $99 a day to $150 a day.

During the last legislative session, Lambert took full advantage of the per diem and collected it for all 120 days, totaling $18,000.

But 30 cents a day so kids can be prepared to learn? Not gonna happen.