For almost a year now, First Lady Michelle Obama launched a campaign against childhood obesity. In fact, she unveiled her "Childhood Obesity Action Plan", The Let's Move Campaign months ago."Let's Move" is the blueprint for ending the problem within a generation calls for more infant breastfeeding, building more sidewalks, curbing time with digital media and getting deep fryers out of schools. For week, the First Lady has been urging The Senate to pass the "Healthy Hunger-Free Kids" Act.
Finally, Her call has been heard by the senate. In fact, yesterday, the Senate passed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. The bill provides an additional $4.5 billion over 10 years to federal child nutrition programs including school lunch. If signed into law, it will be the first time that the federal government has increased funding for the programs in 30 years.
Conservatives have no reason to whine about increasing the deficit because this bill was not only bipartisan but was fully paid for. On Monday, Michelle Obama wrote an op-ed for the Washigton Post, urging the Senate to take action and to pass the bill.
Believe it or not, the bill was passed through a process known as unanimous consent, where all 100 senators agreed to pass the bill without a voice vote. Yes all 100 senators voted for the bill !
According to The Washington Post, the bill allocates $1.2 billion to increase the number of children receiving food, an effort to meet President Obama's pledge to end childhood hunger by 2015. The remaining $3.2 billion would be used to improve the quality of school meals. This includes an extra 6 cents per meal per student for schools that meet new, stricter nutrition standards and funding for schools to establish school gardens and to source local foods.The bill also would mandate that the Department of Agriculture develop nutrition standards for all foods sold in schools, not just what is served in the lunch line.
The House of Representatives have to pass its version of the bill for President Obama to sign the legislation before September 30, when it is set to expire, or the programs risk losing the newly found funding.
The Washington Post also reported that even thought Nancy Pelosi has called the chamber back to Washington next week to finish work on a $26 billion plan to prevent the layoffs, the House is not expected to take up the child nutrition bill until after the August recess.
As you would expect from bitter Right Wingers, they aren't at all happy with the First Lady. First, Laura Ingraham on the O'Reilly Factor slammed the FLOTUS for wanting to "dictate american kids how to eat", then Glen Beck attacked her for her clothing choice. Beck said that Obama was wearing "a white designer dress with black spotches -- splotches -- all over it." Beck then suggested "if that doesn't look like Marie Antoinette saying 'oh you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to relate to the problem. I'm going to have a designer dress that's all white but looks like it has oil spots all over it. Let them eat cake. I'm just like you, oh peasants!' "
But what is their new outrage ? First Lady Michelle Obama and daughter Sasha Obama's trip to Spain. Remember,The White House announced earlier last week that the First Lady and her daughter were going on a private trip, a mother-daughter trip they called in their released statement, in Spain. Michelle Obama is set to meet the King and the Queen of Spain on Sunday during an official meeting.
Right Wingers aren't pleased at all. So they decided to launch of the most ridiculous attack on Michelle Obama. As reported by MMFA, the Right-Wing Media are absurdly comparing Michelle Obama to Queen Marie-Antoinette.
In her most recent column in the NY Daily News, Fox News Contributor Andrea Tantaros attacked the First Lady for going on a trip oversea. She compared Michelle Obama to French Queen Marie-Antoinette. "Material girl Michelle Obama is a modern-day Marie Antoinette on a glitzy Spanish vacation", she wrote in her column. She goes on to criticize the First Lady, suggesting "while many of us are struggling, the First Lady is spending the next few days in a five-star hotel on the chic Costa del Sol in southern Spain with 40 of her 'closest friends.' "
As expected, Nutjob Michelle Malkin praised Tantaros's ridiculous column. "Andrea Tantaros rightly dubs Mrs. O a 'modern-day Marie Antoinette.' " she wrote while refering to Michelle Obama's trip as "lavish Spanish adventure". Malkin added, "Like Mrs. O's old Chicago socialite pal Desiree Rogers liked to say before her profligate, negligent ways got her kicked out of the White House: Laissez les bon temps rouler." (note to Malkin, in french when you put "Les" the next word has to finish with "s" )
Appearing on John King's show on cnn, when asked what was driving the news out of Washington, out of nowhere Erik Erickson replied that one would be that "Michelle Obama, her daughter, friends, and security take over 60 rooms at a hotel in Spain while Barack Obama celebrates his birthday home alone.How long before the Marie Antoinette comparisons start?". Even John King was like "WTF Are you talking about?"
Then of course there is American Thinker's Ralph Alter who claimed that the "pampered" Michelle Obama has taken "maximum advantage" of her "unlimited expense account as first lady". He stated :
"When Marie Antoinette was told the peasants had no bread, her famous rejoinder was the suggestion to 'Let them eat cake', (...)Barack and Michelle are living very large at the taxpayer's expense without so much as a second thought."
And Rush Limbaugh who said on his show yesterday that "Michelle Obama is doing her Marie Antoinette impersonation":
Now other media are playing the outrage card from CBS.com to CNN, Rick Sanchez on his twitter page is now asking his viewers :
FRP* The first lady is under fire for her spanish get a way w/her daughter. Was the vaca appropriate? Ur Thoughts. Ricks List #877-842-5751
Seriously ? Who cares ??? Did they whine when Laura Bush took both of her kids in Africa for a Safari for a month ? OH wait....Laura Bush was........WHITE.
UPDATE : Thank you for the Rec ! :)
UPDATE x 2
Rush Limbaugh, today on his show, : The Obamas "look at it as though they are owed" their "special" food and clothes "because of racial discrimination"
UPDATE x3
More craziness from The Limbus !
Rush Limbaugh :The media thinks "Mrs. Obama deserves" her vacation because of our "slave past"