Word: labruzzo
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Hurricanes have a neat way of reminding Americans of their privilege. Louisiana State Representative John LaBruzzo experienced a reality check when he visited New Orleans residents seeking relief from Hurricane Gustav late last month. It is unfortunate that it takes a natural disaster for politicians, the media, and the rest of America’s elite to remember the existence of our nation’s poorest districts. It is even more unfortunate that when confronted with this reality, these eminently privileged and powerful individuals can do little more than blame and further punish the victims of a system...
After confronting the poverty of his state, LaBruzzo, in his esteemed capacity as a policymaker, offered just such a solution. Horrified that welfare recipients should have cell phones and cigarettes on the state’s dime, he is considering a law to pay willing women $1000 to undergo Fallopian tube ligation and effectively promote state-sponsored sterilization of poor women. The law would also include tax incentives for wealthier, more educated couples to have more children. To him, the root of the welfare crisis lies in poor people reproducing faster than those who are presumably more qualified to have...
Alongside protests from civil rights groups and churches are cries of approval. Commentary on blogs and news articles and conversations among friends show a frightening sympathy with LaBruzzo’s purpose. All other heinous aspects aside, LaBruzzo and his supporters speak to America’s abominable attitude toward our poor citizens...
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