Sean Hannity is challenging Mitt Romney for the title of most out of touch person in America. Ed Schultz explains why he thinks Sean has the edge after making unbelievable comments about hunger. Vicki Escarra, President and CEO of "Feeding America" joins Ed.
On his radio program yesterday, Sean Hannity said he doesn’t believe any Americans go to bed hungry. He suggested that families can simply survive off of rice and beans:
“I don't believe people are going to bed hungry. ... For, instance I have friends of mine who eat rice and beans all the time. Beans protein, rice. Inexpensive. You can make a big pot of this for a week for negligible amounts of money and you can feed your whole family.
Look, you should have vegetables and fruit in there as well, but if you need to survive you can survive off it. It's not ideal but you could get some cheap meat and throw in there as well for protein. There are ways to live really, really cheaply.”
Hannity claimed just because there are 47 million Americans in poverty it does not mean they are going to bed hungry.
"Most of the people have refrigerators and, freezers, and air conditioning, and TVs and...DVDs," he added. He thinks living conditions for the poorest Americans are “decent” although not “ideal.”
According to data released by the U.S. census, more than 1 in 5 children (15.75 million) lived below the poverty line in 2010. In Hannity's mind, none of these children has ever gone to bed hungry. They are presumably just eating rice and beans and watching DVDs.
On his show yesterday, Hannity, who reportedly made over $10 million dollars last year, said, “I never [gone] to bed hungry in my life — ever.”
Hannity has a history of downplaying the plight of the American poor.
It was just a few months ago on his radio show he made the case that “poor in America is not like poor around the rest of the world.” He explained this line of thinking to his guest and fellow multi-millionaire Donald Trump.
Ed will discuss this story tonight on The Ed Show at 8pET on MSNBC with Vicki B. Escarra, President and CEO of Feeding America, the nation's leading domestic hunger-relief charity, which provides food to Americans in need through a network of more than 200 food banks.
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What a piece of crap Hannity is. If the Republicans take control of the government agin and the Ryan budget is passed even the so called middle class will be on beans and rice. I'd like to feed him those beans and rice, they would still be in the bags and wouldn't be through the mouth
Such an ugly man who says such ugly things. Sean "I Love My Escalade" Hannity is a useless human being to everyone in the world except the Fox propaganda fanatics
You give him too much credit - he's a useless piece of s$#t. I see no humanity in him.
Dianemcl, Hannity the manatee has no humanity. I'm a poet now. LOL
I can't look at that toady without wanting to slap some sense into him. He's on the perfect channel, all disinformation...all the time. He keeps it coming, that's for sure.
One out of five children in America go to bed hungry. No beans, no rice, no food.
I have been in third world countries and Americans are always saying, "Oh, it's different. That kind of poverty is different." That is very true, of course, but guess what: Hunger is felt the same by every human in every country, including this one!
Its hard for people like him to understand because when he was poor he chose to work and go to college and become wealthy. Not everybody has that in them and they just remaine poor. I dont think they should expect a free ride. It takes courage and hard work to come out of poverty unless you hit the lotto or some windfall like that. Bottom line if you work hard and are determined you can do it, but you may have to eat beans and rice on your way up.
Hear that kids?? High rolla and Hannity say get to fricken WORK and don't expect a free ride. That is only for the elite, the only segment of America that deserves government help. If you are hungry it is your own fault, ya lazy children. Now go pick up a gdamn broom and sweep the classroom.
Thats what my parents told me, you have to work to eat. So I guess it depends on how you were raised.
Holy @!$%#. Doesn't this sound like some Court Jester talking about the Surfs in the kingdom?
Someone should drop Sean in an urban inner city environment all alone and see how long he survives. He would learn a considerable bit from the experience. To the class warfare republicans if you take more from the poor and give that to the rich then the nation would have more prosperity. Their are people in the country and the world who starve. Someone should force Hannity to meet some of them. To the GOP gays and the poor, and all these other groups they demonize are like fairy tale creatures to them they're mythical.
Breaking News everyone neo-conservatives are no believe in real reality statistics
Great Plan!!
I wonder if his parents a proud of his shameful inhumanity to the less fortunate.
I'd bet my life Hannibal doesn't even know any poor people, let alone ones that eat rice and beans to survive. He must be talking about his rich friends that eat rice pilaf and fava beans with a nice chianti, oops, I mean bordeaux.
Actualy he was poor but he worked when he was in college. Thats what it takes you have to put effort into it. Plenty of people have been poor and were able to work hard and save and do without things to save.
That was back when wages were actually something you could live on, but the elite have made sure wages and benefits have been repressed over the last few decades, allowing the increases in wealth to funnel directly to the top. And cutting education funding means you come out of school with more debt than ever.
Sean hannity please SHUT UP!!!
What a vile, nasty, ignorant jerk.
I know someone who works for Social Services, and she says 'it's amazing what they expect people to live on in this state'. SHE'S A REPUBLICAN!!!!!
This guy is an idiot, and he obviously isn't working his butt off trying to feed a child! I DID go hungry, just so my son could eat the foods he NEEDED to GROW! That is NOT "beans and rice"!! No clue what real people are really going through obviously. I'm thankful I only had one child, and it was years ago, when things weren't anywhere NEAR as bad as they are now! I and my husband live in a trailer with almost all the floors going soft (my bathroom floor is like pudding so we have a piece of wood covering it), bad electric connections that he's had to shut off so we don't have a fire, and after our bills are paid, we're left with about 25 dollars for the MONTH! He has no idea what poverty IS!
Years ago, I too struggle to feed my child. I was one of the working poor who earned to much to receive food stamps.
But you have internet so it's all good. <--sarcasm
Tony,
Not funny. I said years ago... as in 1974. And, no we did not have cable or air conditioning in New Haven, Conn.
this is what repubs need and want to believe. it fits their agenda of, "if you're not rich, blame yourself".
Their agenda is social darwinism.
I challenge Hannity to try to survive a week on the amount one gets in SNAP (food stamps). Money -> mouth.
Feral should it be under the current progrom or what it would look like under the Ryan budget?
Sean Hannity do everyone a favor and get your ass off the television nobody likes you.
what's worse?
his ass or his face?
Suzette, When he was born, the doctor slapped his butt, and then, taking another look at Hannity, slapped his mother's face.
India,
i figured as much!
suzette my reply would be........Hmmmmmmmmmmmm can't decide lol
His comments are deplorable, unkind and untrue.
What a shameful display of mean spirited/demeaning attitude to the poor. It makes me so angry...I am about to scream/cry and break my promise to behave like a lady.
Joy from SoCal, Boy, do I know what you mean. No humanity at all. There's no shame in being poor. There is a lot of shame in attacking the poor. Especially people like the manatee, who make 20 million a year. You don't need brains to lie for Fox, or that moron , that TOADY, would be out of a job.
When Obama is reelected, he and his fellow liars at Fox will be eating some CROW!
India LeCarre,
you are back! it seems at lease as you are back to being a friend again.
welcome back
Beans=protein, rice=inexpensive. And if you can collect all that gas produced, they wouldn't have to sleep in the cold, either. This guy is so out of touch his should just shut up! But of course he won't.
So Hannity doesnt think people in this country go to bed hungry. Well I dont think a guy who makes $10 mil last year has any friends that eat rice and beans on a regular basis. It is true that you can get by on what you have to get by on. I do it. Millions of others do it. But why should we accept that Mr. $10 mil a year. And why is what you do worth so much and what the people scraping for the scraps worth so little? Someone tell me, because what Mr. $10 million seems worthless. I guess thats why hes on fox. You have to be out of touch to report on the out of touch. To think there are no people in this country going to bed hungry on a regular basis is ignorant and insulting.
Very well said!
Thank you.
Hannity is a mediocre loudmouth gasbag who is making a fortune with half truths and outright lies each and every night. His show is a redundant repetition of negativity over and over again. he has little if any intellectual capacity which is indicated each night by his inability to refrain from ad hominem attacks.
People like Hannity and Limbaugh have virtually nothing in common with thosein their adoring audiences. Yet, those misguided sould thrive on every word form these two idiots. Their audinece is misguided into the belief that minorities are the source of all of their problems, whether in the White House or elsewher in america.
Look what the republicans are proposing next. Doubling the interest on student loans.These are the same people that shot down the Buffet Rule plan.
The Hannity's and the Limbaugh's subscribe to theory that capitalism solves all problems, and that somehow it is based on a perfect system of meritocracy. Of course that means that the smartest an hardest working people ought to all be flaming successes-right? No.There is more to it than that. They know it, but they will never admit it. If people who are not making it, they are not making it because they do not want to make it. There is some of that to be sure. Always will be. But, not the overwhelming majority. They know that as well. But, they donot want to deal with the system that creates these disparities. If you do, you are calling for equal results, and we all know that is unamerican. After all, this country was founded on the principles of liberty and justice for all. Right? Wrong. More than half of the population were and have been discriminated against in this country on some level or another since its inception. Thsy know that as well.
But, lets not confuse the issues with the facts.
Doesn't he realize by eating just Rice and Beans can cause diabetes and the kidneys to malfunction. We already have millions of diabetics in this country!!
I hate him
Ditto!!!
These appliances--refrigerators, air conditioners, etc---probably come with their rental so they may "have" them but do not own them. They may also be decades old and inefficient.
Jerks like Hannity probably have at least 2 refrigerators, a wine chiller, an icemaker and a freezer FOR EACH RESIDENCE. Each of their children probably have a dorm fridge.
No telling how many TVs they have. But I bet a lot of the poor bought their TV with stimulus money they were encouraged to spend.
This the reason i watch hannity someone that was very smart once told me that if you listen to a person they will tell you alot about him or her and as people listen to this type of person and those who believe the same way you will be able to understand them more and more which is good. I'm glad he is on the air promoting this type of what he claims is conservatism so do not please do not stop listening to this person the fact is that the more he and his cohorts rants and raves is good for people to learn how to deal with someone like this one thing that a person can lean on is the facts and let them stand for truth not just what someone will say.
I have try and can't do, he is to stupid.
So what Hannity is saying is?????? Ah....??? We nothing peasants should just except our place, except the dominance of the criminal 1% and be grateful for the crumbs thrown to us??? Does Hannity have his own secret service to protect him? I think he may start needing one.
Hannity is beyond redemption. Many people go to bed hungryin this country, even children! He has about as much compassion as a cobra. When I was younger and a single mom and lost my job, I couldn't afford food at one point and I had a young child. That made me feel horrible. A friend of mine showed up with groceries one day and I was lucky and didn't have to be in that position again. What about the peoplle that didn't have someone else to depend on? I was trying to get my ex to pay child support, but he had disappeared and taken zero responsibiity for his daughter. Sometimes peope find themselves in circumstances beyond their control. Sean Hannity needs to be foreced to go live with poor people. What a jerk!
Viewer 01, He is one poor excuse for a human being. What a low down, lying piece of human waste. As soon as he opens his mouth you want to put your fist in it. One day someone might, that's for sure and I, for one, couldn't blame them.
He's on the right channel. What a bunch of cutthroats they have over there. Where humanity ought to be in Hannity, there is only a void. Same thing inside his head where his brain should be.
And looks like some thuggish Lou Costello. [Forgive me Lou]
LOL, He does! I always thought he also looked like the manatees we used to watch in Florida's waters. Big, ugly lumbering things; they almost looked like rusty barrels. The difference is, manatees have a kind face.
India what has a manatee ever done to you to deserve such insults.
Wait Lou only brought me laughs and entertainment. This is what Hannity does, brings the worst out in everybody.
Viewer01, Hannity will be eating crow come November when Obama is reelected! I'd love to be the one to feed it to him.
he is so out of touch .....he looking for ratings......
This is the class warfare the republicans claim the other side is about. Remember the Karl Rove projection tactic, blame the other side for your greatest weaknesses. So the GOP has been lying in its claim that those who want to see taxes at least for wealthy individuals at Clinton era rates(most of country, nearly 2 out 5 republicans) as wanting to persecute them for their success and blah blah take from them to give for free to others. They will always lie about that when the math doesn't back their position.
But here's what it's about America either you can have those who have the most have as much on the line as the middle class in terms of a tax rate to pay for what must be paid for. To pay for what republicans have already spent, and what democrats want to spend and for what everyone realizes will be needed. So you can choose.
Oil subsidies, sugar subsidies or SNAP......who do think mught need that more
Education or corporate tax rates.....which benefits society most
Never would I estimate there would be those who don't believe this country's finances would be in a better place by taking more from those with less to increase give aways to things that we don't need like more defense spending or give more to those who don't need it like big oil and congress for that matter(they need about 25% pay cut)
Need proof wages has'nt kept up with price of food. Check out the military and see how many familys in the military are in the Food Stamp program.
way to many of them!!!!
Oh dear times must be really bad, in the old days aristocracy told the poor to eat cake when there was no bread! rice and beans?!?!? but cake is so much more tasty.
Republican detachment from reality is in fact a mental condition, it just hasn't been defined medically yet. The further you are removed from reality, the more republican you can be with no guilt. Cant you just hear the conversation in the quiet room when the advisor told romeny about the student loans.
Romneys reaction: Why do they need student loans, don't they realize they can just cash in some stocks and pay out of pocket. do they want low cost loans so they can have their education and keep their investments too?
Hunger? i thought that 90's song 'we are the world' ended hunger amongst the colored people.
I was an acctive drug addict for 10 years. The only reason I ever went hungry was because I chose to get high insted of eating. There is no reson whatsoever to go hungry in this country. You may have to plant some seeds are do a little wotk like day labor but there is no reason you should ever go hungry in this country. Of course if you choose not to put the effort into it you might go hungry unless sombody gives you a free handout.
What is it about jobs, opportunities, and loosening the grip of an elite oligarch from the throat of the nation that sounds like wanting a hand out?
I work for a living, sometimes was forced on unemployment in the Bush years, but would settle for $10.00 an hour to get off it. I am doing much better now, however I was doing a whole lot better in the 90's. Also had a good deal in IRA's which is no longer due to Wall Street, and the banks nefarious practices. What is it about those scum bag crooks receiving raises and bonuses as opposed to jail sentences that sound like wanting a hand out?
I know what you are getting at, and I have stated over and over again not being a fan of government handout for the lazy and irresponsible. But the idea that this is what liberals and democrats are all about is nothing but a right wing smear. Why/how does any government benefit by "enslaving a people to welfare"?
Also economically the rot on the top is far more destructive than the rot on the bottom.
Viewer it's about getting the hands of regular people out of ventures designed solely to benefit those in power.
What about the kids? Do they choose to get high instead of eat at eight, nine, ten years old? Guess what folks the kids are never responsible for being born poor. Seems like a pretty simple idea, you know who SNAP helps kids! Now you'll say they get fed at school that's true, they get fed twice a day week days. What about the weekend, people tend to also need to eat on weekends. What about til the next day at school. So go ahead and slash SNAP and programs to help the poor and just know you are slapping food out of the mouths of the young. This is clear which is why the Hannitites want to believe that there is no hunger so they can sleep at knight while supporting the budgets that slash the programs that help to see that and try to make it that know one goes hungry.
People do go hungry. If not I'm curious about what your old buddy GW was talking about with "low food security" households.
Remember dominionists what you do unto the poor is what you do unto your god
I love republicans trying to say there's a safety for the poor we don't have to worry about them and then go attack the existence of that same safety net
Robme states he's for low interest rates for student loans and good schools for urban children then out of the other side of his mouth, he endorses the Paul Ryan Budget Plan. This plan cuts education and increases the student college loan rate July 1. It also the cuts all the safety nets for the poor, disabled, and elderly that happens to be food stamps, medicaid, medicare, and all entitlement programs that benefit them. I am glad to hear that Catholic bishops are weighing in against these cuts. Of course they should have weigh in earlier for women's rights when those rights were being dicussed. Rick Scott here in Florida just cut funding-$1.5M-- to the Women's Rape Crisis Centers. What's next? Women's Voting Rights--nothing is sacred to these republicans.
I hate to be the bearing of bad news but during my 10 years of drug additions I recieved snap (foodstamps) sometimes. Did I buy food with them? No I didnt I traded then for crack rock. As does the parents of chidren who are crack heads. So in actualy reality the kids still go hungry.
Let's make something clear.... the stats he quoted were from the heritage foundation dating back to 2004, the info. was gathered from 2001 stats. To claim that the poor are living the good life according to this report, is flat out wrong! The recession hit after these stats a new report needs to published, one that accurately reflex's today's poor. In fact if you go to their website their info on poverty and inequality it will make you sick! The hatred and contempt they have for the poor runs deep. On their opening page Limbaugh is their mascot and in the past Hannity was too. So let's get some real numbers and statistics that reflex what reality is for the poor in this country.