NEWT: CAN'T GET HIS FACTS RIGHT

OH NEWT GINGRICH! YOUR RACISM, CLASSISM & IGNORANCE ARE SHOWING.
NEWT SPOUTED OFF IN N.H. TO A CROWD OF SENIOR CITIZENS-

"I'm prepared, if the NAACP invites me, I'll go to their convention and talk about why the African American community should demand paychecks and not be satisfied with food stamps."

HUFF PO WRITES:

"The fact is, if I become your nominee we will make the key test very simple: Food stamps versus paychecks," said Gingrich hoping to appeal to conservative white voters in New Hampshire and in upcoming primaries in South Carolina, Florida and other southern states. "Obama is the best food stamp president in American history. More people are on food stamps today because of Obama's policies than ever in history. I would like to be the best paycheck president in American history."

Despite the fact that Gingrich used the phrase, "the fact is," he got his facts wrong in several ways.

About 40 million Americans (in 18.4 million households) receive food stamps, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report released in September, using the latest (2010) data. 

Among the food stamp recipients:

 33% (13.4 million) are white

 22% (8.9 million) are black

 16.7% (6.6 million) are Hispanic 

and 2.8% (1.1 million) are Asian.

Almost half (47%) of all Americans who receive food stamps are children. Another 8% are elderly. About 20% are disabled. These are not people who have a choice between paychecks and food stamps.

Moreover, there is no contradiction between earning a paycheck and receiving food stamps. Because of the explosion of low-wage jobs in America, many people who work are eligible to receive food stamps. According to the Department of Agriculture report, about five million non-elderly adults who receive food stamps are working. Another 4.4 million are unemployed and looking for work. Millions more have joined the ranks of "discouraged" workers who've given up looking for work after months, and in some cases more than a year, of unsuccessful job searches. That shouldn't be surprising, given the reality that for more than 2½ years, the number of jobless Americans has outstripped the number of available job openings by more than 4 to 1.

Among those lucky enough to have jobs, more than 10 million Americans are the "working poor," whose incomes are below the federal poverty line, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But Gingrich has a long history of supporting repeal of the minimum wage. An employee who works full time and earns the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour would have an annual income $15,080 -- not enough to be above the poverty line for a family of three."

THE GOOD NEWS , I SUPPOSE, IS NEWT HAS SHOWN HIS ABSOLUTE OUT OF TOUCH SELF, ALONG WITH HIS RACIST SIDE. I GUESS HIS PREVIOUS BLUNDER- SAYING LOW INCOME KIDS SHOULD DO JANITORIAL WORK AT THEIR SCHOOLS & THEY SHOULD FIRE MOST OF THE UNION JANITORS SHOWS NEWT'S STATE OF CONFUSED THOUGHTS- HE'S GOING TO CREATE PAYCHECKS BY FIRING ADULTS, HIRE KIDS AND MAGICALLY MAKE JOBS THAT PAY ENOUGH TO GET OUT OF POVERTY LEVEL. GINGRICH SEEMS TO BE CONFUSING "MAGICIAN" WITH "POLITICIAN".

TWO MORE FACTUAL ITEMS NEWT CAN'T RIGHT:

#1-"In Iowa last month, Gingrich said the following: "And we now give it [food stamps] away as cash -- you don't get food stamps. You get a credit card, and the credit card can be used for anything. We have people who take their food stamp money and use it to go to Hawaii. They give food stamps now to millionaires because, after all, don't you want to be compassionate? 

In fact, as Politifact pointed out, food stamps cannot be "used for anything," as Gingrich claimed. Food stamp benefits are now loaded on to an electronic benefits transfer card, or EBT, similar to a debit card. Recipients can only purchase certain grocery items with the card. Beer and wine, for example, aren't allowed. They cannot be used to purchase airline tickets to "go to Hawaii." Gingrich is also wrong that "They give food stamps now to millionaires." Only individuals and families with incomes below 130 percent of the poverty line are eligible to receive food stamps. That does not include millionaires. "

#2-In addition to talking his food-stamp-vs.-paycheck argument on the stump, Gingrich often talks about speaking to the NAACP, as well as other groups, in an effort to reach out to all Americans. Based on previous experience with Gingrich, the NAACP is not so convinced.

"We invited Speaker Gingrich to attend our annual convention several times
when he was Speaker of the House, but he declined to join us," Jealous continued. "If he is invited again, I hope that he would come, with the intention to unite rather than divide."
"And for the life of me I can't understand why having a conservative Republican who cares about young people having jobs should be seen as such a terrible idea or should be seen as somehow a racist characterization," 

 EXACTLY! NEWT DOES NOT UNDERSTAND THE FOLLOWING:
• AFRICAN AMERICAN IS AN OUTDATED/RACIST TERM
• IMPLYING BLACK AMERICANS TAKE THE LIONS SHARE OF FOOD STAMPS
IS BOTH RACIST AND INCORRECT!
• NOT BEING AWARE THAT SO MANY WORKING AMERICANS ARE UNDEREMPLOYED AS TO QUALIFY FOR FOOD STAMPS.
• LAYING THE BLAME OF THE ECONOMY ON OBAMA, AS IF 8 YEARS OF REPUBLICAN RULE DID NOT LEAVE THE ECONOMY IN A SHAMBLES
• NOT KNOWING FOOD STAMPS ARE NOW DEBIT CARDS THAT CAN ONLY BE USED FOR FOOD (HERE DOES HE GET HIS INFO? FOX NEWS?)
• THE STRICT GUIDELINES IN PLACE TO GET FOOD STAMPS. IN MANY CASES JUST GETTING UNEMPLOYMENT $ IS COUNTED AS INCOME, AND DISQUALIFIES A PERSON FROM GETTING FOOD STAMPS.
• NEVER DOES NEWT MENTION THE OUTRAGE OF TAX CUTS FOR THE WEALTHY
TO THE TUNE OF OVER A TRILLION.