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Akin's school-lunch funding comment draws controversy

Abbie Fentress Swanson
/
KBIA/Harvest Public Media

Every year, politicians descend on the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia to attend the Governor’s Ham Breakfast and woo voters – and almost every year someone says something controversial. And this year was no exception.

Congressman Todd Akin, the GOP nominee for the U-S Senate, was talking with reporters about his opposition to spending hikes for food stamps and other programs in the federal Farm Bill when he was asked what he thought about school lunch programs:

“Well, there’s another good question: Who should be doing that? I say is it something the federal government should do? ... I answer it ‘no,’ I say why not do it at the state level.”

Donna Smiley of Versailles is a school teacher who sides with Republicans on most issues, but disagrees with Akin’s stance: “I see kids every day that are in need of food, not only food, but lots of other things…as far as it goes I guess it’s the responsibility of the government – if the state’s not going to, I think the federal government definitely should.”

Akin later amended the comment, saying that he’s not opposed to school lunches – he just questions the way the federal government handles programs, including that one. He has since come under fire from Democrat Claire McCaskill, who he’s trying to oust from the US Senate.

 

 

Missouri Public Radio State House Reporter Marshall Griffin is a proud alumnus of the University of Mississippi (a.k.a., Ole Miss), and has been in radio for over 20 years, starting out as a deejay. His big break in news came when the first President Bush ordered the invasion of Panama in 1989. Marshall was working the graveyard shift at a rock station, and began ripping news bulletins off the old AP teletype and reading updates between songs. From there on, his radio career turned toward news reporting and anchoring. In 1999, he became the capital bureau chief for Florida's Radio Networks, and in 2003 he became News Director at WFSU-FM/Florida Public Radio. During his time in Tallahassee he covered seven legislative sessions, Governor Jeb Bush's administration, four hurricanes, the Terri Schiavo saga, and the 2000 presidential recount. Before coming to Missouri, he enjoyed a brief stint in the Blue Ridge Mountains, reporting and anchoring for WWNC-AM in Asheville, North Carolina. Marshall lives in Jefferson City with his wife, Julie, their dogs, Max and Mason, and their cat, Honey.
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