advocate program, tell us about, you know, what your experience is and what the experience of those youth that you are working with. well, first of all, it s funny to sit here and be a part of a panel and talk about poverty. i m the only black person, you know. what i deal with in the society that i live in, the poverty is so desolate and deep. the south side is so segregated. it s strange, almost, to talk about applying for food stamps and that being painful when, in chicago, on the south side, the food stamp thing or apply for link is almost normal because the poverty level is so desolate. but there s hope. the people on the south side are resourceful. they are resilient. so are you, tonja.
with republican senator chuck grassley about if that scenario can be avoided. senator, start with the status of the farm bill. are you going to get an actual farm bill passed before you guys leave town, which i think is now eight days from now? i m going to fight for a five-year farm bill because farmers in this country need long-term view. you make long-term plans. not just from month to month or year to year. now if we don t get that, we ought to at least have a one-year extension of the existing farm bill. but what i think you know, we can t go back to the 1949 farm bill. that s too bureaucratic and it s not the way agriculture is in the 21st century. i know this is being caught up in some politics inside the republican party, particularly on the house side. what s your message to some house republicans that don t like, that are upset about the food stamp thing?
review and make sure it s being as helpful as we can to people in difficult circumstances. governor, this is just part of your total package, you re trying to make kansas more competitive to get outside expects to relocate to the sunflower state as well. people have grabbed a hold of this food stamp thing and to the exclusion of all the other good ideas you ve put forward. well, that s what s been really disconcerting to me is that we lost a decade last decade. we lost private sector jobs last decade and we ve got to get in a more competitive position. we ve got to attract more people. we are growing at a slower rate than the other states in the region. we hope to not lose a congressional seat next time around, we ve got to grow at a faster rate. we re doing more things to get our tax levels down, get into a more competitive position. get our costs at the state level under control. move to a defined contribution system for state employees. so it s a lot of changes but the current t
for example, we know it s not the same republican party that participated in the 1964 civil rights movement because there was something called the southern strategy. remember that. remember strom thurmond and all the dixiecrats were very much opposed to the civil rights movement, the civil rights bill. where did they find comfort? in the republican party. and we know what johnson said. we may have done the right thing in passing the 65 voting rights act, but we ll lose the south because it s going to go republican. but he didn t bring that up as far as the history. the dixiecrats left the democratic party. there were racists in the democratic party. that s right. but they went and found refuge in the republican party. but then let me ask you this, alex. this whole food stamp thing that they are using well, let me show you the exchange tyler and i had on the food stamp
has bad messaging. republicans say this. the theme of jobs and paychecks versus job killing and food stamps is a theme that really most americans can understand, and i think that as we go around the country on the jobs tour, we re going to keep driving home the mesfj you re pelosi and reid and obama, your policy kills jobs. newt gingrich feels like he s on a victory lap. there he gowise the food stamp thing. it boggles my mind what they re trying to do with the food stamp thing. it took them eight years to tear down what bill clinton, the peace and prosperity that bill clinton built. it took them eight years to tear that down. to say that barack obama and democrats are going to rebuild that in a little over a year and a half is ridiculous. there s a lot of heavy spin coming from republicans on the campaign trail. this argument that because there