New rule to exclude thousands from food aid

Bill Knight column for 12-26, 27 or 28, 2019

Weeks before Christmas, a new federal rule was announced that sounds like it was written by Ebenezer Scrooge before he saw the light.

On Dec. 4, the Trump administration set April Fool’s Day as when the rule will take effect restricting eligibility for abled-bodied adults without dependents to get Supplement Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, or food stamps).

The USDA estimates that between 755,000 and 850,000 Americans will be dropped, according to publichealthwatch.com. The average SNAP benefit is less than $5/day for a single American.

The anti-hunger program’s work requirements for those without kids started in 1996, but states could waive them during economic uncertainties. Already, these people can receive SNAP benefits for only 3 months during a 36-month period unless they’re working or enrolled in an education or training program for 20 hours a week.

The new rule prohibits waivers unless states have a 12-month jobless rate of 20%, or as little as 6% above the U.S. average. This month’s jobless rate is 3.6%; 36 million Americans use food stamps.

In 2018, the rule’s legislative version was defeated by bipartisan votes in the House and Senate (83-330 and 30-68, respectively).

"SNAP provides families with their basic nutritional needs to get them through temporary hard time” according to Feeding America. “It helps people get back on their feet and on the road to a better life."

Anti-hunger groups were critical of the changes.

“This action flies in the face of congressional intent,” said James Weill, president of Food Research & Action Center. “If the rule is implemented, the nation would see higher rates of hunger and poverty.”

The rule will “cause serious harm to individuals, communities, and the nation while doing nothing to improve the health and employment of those impacted by the rule,” he continued. “In addition, the rule would harm the economy, grocery retailers, agricultural producers, and communities by reducing the amount of SNAP dollars available to spur local economic activity.”

Faith groups echo such concerns.

“These changes seek to deny the basic level of support necessary for people to have adequate access to nutritious food,” said the Presbyterian Church (USA). “Members of Congress rightly saw that these changes to the SNAP program were punitive and contrary to the aims of the program.”

The Chicago Sun-Times editorialized that the new rule implies SNAP freeloaders are rampant, but “the administration has produced no evidence.”

U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio), chair of the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Nutrition, Oversight and Department Operations, said the USDA failed to prepare for the change.

“If it had, they would’ve found many recipients are either attempting to find work or face hardships that prevent them from doing so,” she wrote. “Instead, it demonized them as lazy and undeserving.”

Lisa Pruitt, a law professor at the University of California-Davis, said the changes will hit rural residents harder than the rest of the country.

“Work requirements are disproportionally harmful in rural communities because of a dearth of public transportation, lack of access to child care where needed, and very few available jobs,” she said.

Further, work requirements “often fail to achieve their goals of promoting self-sufficiency and in fact worsen the plight of those already suffering the ill-effects of poverty and food insecurity.”

The Presbyterians added, “In one of the wealthiest nations in the world, any governmental action that hinders a person’s ability to access nutritious food is unacceptable [and our church] does not support this attempt to further marginalize people already struggling to put food on their tables.”

We, too, are bidden

Bill Knight column for 12-23, 24 or 25, 2019

A personal hero, newspaper columnist and labor activist Heywood Broun, was known for his progressive views and his passionate interests – from sports and books to poker and Christmas.

Eighty-one years ago this week, the liberal commentator wrote this piece for the old New York World-Telegram.

The angel of the Lord said to the shepherds, “And this shall be a sign unto you: You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.”

They made haste to go to Bethlehem to see the thing which had come to pass. “For unto you,” the angel said, “is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.”

But as they journeyed to Bethlehem they fell into a discussion as to just how they should find the place where the infant lay. The shepherds were not folk familiar with the town, even though it lay a short journey from the fields in which they tended their flocks. Besides, they knew that many from the country roundabout had gone to Bethlehem in compliance with the decree of Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. Indeed, one of the group grumbled, “In Bethlehem there be many mangers, and how are we to find the one?”

And the youngest shepherd said, “It will be made known to us.”

The night was bright with stars and the way more easy than they had expected. In spite of the late hour many walked in the narrow streets of Bethlehem, and from all the houses there came a clatter. The shepherds stood for a moment in some perplexity as to the appointed place. The noises of the town were confusing to men who had been standing silent under starlight.

And suddenly, the volume of voices increased, and down the street there came a caravan of camels. Upon the backs of the beasts sat great bearded men, and with them they brought sacks of precious stuffs and huge treasure chests from distant kingdoms. The air was filled with the pungent tang of spice and perfume.

The startled shepherds stood against the wall to let the cavalcade of the mighty pass by. And these wise men and kings seemed to have no doubt as to their destination. They swept past the inn and dismounted at the door of a stable. Servants took the burdens from the backs of the camels, and the kings and the wise men stooped and went in through the low door of the stable.

“It is there the child lies in the manger,” said one of the shepherds and made as if to follow, but his fellows were abashed and said among themselves, “It is not right that we should crowd in upon the heels of the mighty.”

The youngest shepherd spoke up, insisting, “We, too, are bidden. For us, as well, there was the voice of the angel of the Lord.”

And timidly, the men from the fields followed after and found places near the door. They watched as the men from distant countries came and silently placed their gifts at the foot of the manger where the child lay sleeping. And the shepherds stood aside and let the great of the Earth go out into the night to take up again their long journey.

Presently they were alone, but as they had no gifts to lay beside the gold and frankincense, they turned to go back to their flocks. But Mary, the mother, made a sign to the youngest shepherd to come closer. And he said, “We are shepherds, and we have come from the fields whence an angel summoned us. There is naught which we could add to the gifts of wise men and of kings.”

Mary replied, “Before the throne of God, who is a king and who is wise, you have brought with you a gift more precious than all the others. It lies within your heart.”

And suddenly it was made known to the shepherd the meaning of the words of Mary. He knelt at the foot of the manger and gave to the child his prayer of devotion and of joy. 

Christmas movies: the best of the rest

Bill Knight column for 12-19, 20 or 21, 2019

I’ve been enamored with Christmas movies for decades, writing about them in newspapers and my book “Video Almanac,” so I have favorites, mostly the predictable, traditional gems. So when the Hallmark and Lifetime channels decided to air some 70 Christmas movies, I was intrigued – then disappointed. They’re so contrived, they make marginal “Christmas movies” such as “Die Hard,” “Gremlins” and “Lethal Weapon” seem almost Biblical.

(CBS’ “Late Show” host Stephen Colbert satirized this crass exploitation by proposing titles including “Christmas Barista,” “The Eggnog Mysteries,” “Santa Goes Hawaiian” and “A Very Puppy Christmas.”)

For those who like Christmas films beyond the usual ones, here are 10 neglected titles:

            1. “All That Heaven Allows” (1955): A wealthy widow (Jane Wyman) has a love affair with a younger gardener (Rock Hudson) during the holidays, when her snooty kids and 1-percenter friends disapprove. The cast features Agnes Moorehead and Conrad Nagel, plus Charles Drake and Gloria Talbott.

2. "Carol for Another Christmas" (1964). If you watch one film from this list, CHOOSE THIS. Rod Serling's modern version of Dickens' “Christmas Carol” is provocative, moving and timeless, about power and profits, fear and loss, and love and war. Directed by Joseph Mankiewicz, it stars Peter Sellers,  Sterling Hayden, Ben Gazzara, Eva Marie Saint, Robert Shaw, Pat Hingle, Steve Lawrence, Britt Ekland, Barbara Ann Teer, James Shigeta, Percy Rodrigues, Joe Santos and (only in a portrait since his scenes were cut) Peter Fonda. Henry Mancini wrote the score.

3. “The Fourth Wise Man” (1985): Martin Sheen stars as Artaban, the forgotten Magi who spends his life looking for Jesus after missing the “Three Kings” caravan to Bethlehem. Forever a step behind, Artaban exhausts his time, talent and treasure in his quest, which ends at Cavalry. The cast also includes Alan Arkin, Ralph Bellamy and Eileen Brennan, plus Adam Arkin and Sheen’s sons Charlie Sheen and Ramon Estevez.

4. “Mary, Mother of Jesus” (1999). Pernilla August has the title role in this serious depiction of the mother of God, from before His earthly conception to after the Crucifixion. Geraldine Chaplin is Elizabeth, Melinda Kinnaman the young Mary, and John Light as the angel Gabriel, with Christian Bale as the adult Jesus.

5. “The Nativity” (2010). Set in Judea when B.C. was becoming A.D., this four-part series has three overlapping plots revolving around Jesus’ birth: the Nazarene carpenter Joseph courting young Mary, a shepherd in rural Bethlehem coping with Herod’s taxes, and Magi in the East discussing signs in the stars indicating a major event. Filmed in Morocco, the U.K. production features mostly European actors.

6. “The Nativity Story” (2006): Director Catherine Hardwicke (“Lords of Dogtown,” “Twilight”) focuses this more narrowly than “The Nativity,” stressing the challenges faced by pregnant Mary (Keisha Castle-Hughes) and Joseph (Oscar Isaac) en route to Bethlehem. It comes across realistic as well as earnest, with terrific depictions of the Magi, shepherds and the evil Herod as well as a worried couple behaving as most people would. (By coincidence, the lead actors both appeared in “Star Wars” films.)

7. “Prancer” (1989): A girl needs a restoration of faith as she deals with her mother’s death and her dad’s failure to cope with the loss beyond the temptation of the bottle. She finds it in a wounded reindeer she decides is one of Santa's team. Rebecca Harrell Tickell stars as the youngster, with Sam Elliott, Cloris Leachman, Michael Constantine and Abe Vigoda.   

8. “The Preacher’s Wife” (1996): Denzel Washington stars as a handsome angel in this remake of 1947’s “Bishop’s Wife,” with Courtney B. Vance as the distracted pastor and Whitney Houston as his wife (instead of the original’s Cary Grant, David Niven and Loretta Young, respectively). The new version also features Lionel Richie and Gregory Hines.

9. “Remember the Night” (1940): This romantic comedy has a shoplifter (Barbara Stanwyck) helped by a sympathetic prosecutor (Fred MacMurray) on Christmas Eve, when they embark on a long trip to his mom’s for the holiday. Feelings of family and love warm the heart – characters and viewers alike.

10. “Santa vs. the Snowman” (2002): A lonesome snowman feels left out of the holidays and decides to impersonate Santa, inadvertently sparking a war with the North Pole. The animated spoof of various Christmas yarns features igloos launching snowball artillery and rocket-propelled reindeer. It stars the inimitable Jonathan Winters, lawyer/speech writer/columnist/screenwriter Ben Stein, former “SNL” cast member Victoria Jackson, and legendary voiceover narrator Don LaFontaine.