CNN Wants 'Fix' from the 'Broken Government' for Hungry Children

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CNN apparently missed the irony of using a segment called "Broken Government" to demand that the government address child hunger.

"Talk about mad as hell," CNN's Kyra Phillips said, introducing the Feb. 25 segment. "Every day a child goes hungry, a food pantry struggles, a parent loses a job. Today: Broken Government and hunger in America."

Phillips suggested that the government should be involved in this problem saying, "We put in so much money to bailing out banks, bailing out big companies, yet every night a child here in our country goes hungry."

After mentioning examples of children in Los Angeles and Georgia relying on food pantries and not getting "enough food to maintain a healthy life," Phillips introduced her two guests: "Spiritual teacher and author" Marianne Williamson, and Meredith Dodson, director of domestic campaigns for RESULTS -- a liberal activist group.

Both guests attacked the tragedy of child hunger from the left and made no mention of private charity to solve the problem. Williamson criticized government "corruption" stemming from the "overinfluence" of money.

She complained about the rich getting richer saying, "we have accelerated the flow of wealth in this country upwards to such an extent over the last 40 or 50 years, so many of our political policies favor those who already have." But Williamson didn't explain how that has anything to do with the problem of children going hungry.

Phillips asked Dodson what she's trying to do to fix "what we're seeing every day, which is our children, our families suffering."

Dodson responded by promoting the top liberal priority of health care reform, without clearly connecting it to child hunger.

"The top one of course is health reform, the bills that are pending right now will invest in expanding coverage and access for low income people. But we also have Congress turning its attention to the child nutrition programs."

Phillips didn't include anyone to discuss personal or corporate charity or private solutions to child hunger.