Tea Party Success; Mother Shoots Children Commits Suicide After Food Stamp Denial

While the Tea-Party, Fox News, Grover Norquist, Republican legislators and the Republican presidential candidates among many will not lose any sleep over it, a 38yr old female shot her two children and then committed suicide herself in a Texas food stamp office on Tuesday.

As our Bought & Paid For Republican congressional leaders continue to crawl on their knees’ to Wall-Street and the Tea-Party the life and death of ordinary citizens is of little or no consequence.

The two children a 10-year old boy and 12-year old sister both still in critical condition in a Texas hospital are just insignificant collateral damage. Rachelle Grimmer 38-years is dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound her former children will be orphans, that is if they live to see any more of this life.

Rachelle first applied for food stamps in July but was denied as she did not supply enough information. She apparently had applied after relocating to Texas from Ohio the Department of Health and Human Services stated the last previous contact with her had occurred during mid November.

That was until she walked into the building housing HHS in Laredo, Texas on Tuesday. The once living family walked in at 5pm, Grimmer asked to speak with a new case worker and specifically not the one she had worked with in the past. She and her children were taken to a private room and shortly afterwards revealed she had gun and the situation escalated, yet no one knew how badly this would end after the seven-hour standoff.

The police were called and their negotiators were on the phone with Rachelle throughout the evening, however her frustration was self-evident. A supervisor at the Texas Department of Health and Human Services offered himself as a hostage if Rachelle would let the other 25 employees in the building go free, which she did. She also finally let the supervisor leave at 7:45pm while she and her two children remained. Imagine the feeling alone in that room in the building where you had come for help yet no one cared, in such desperation living a life so far off the page past the margins into nowhere. No one will ever know what drove Rachelle to do what she did however I can imagine many of her once fellow Americans feel the same desperation in this day and age.

After the last phone call with authorities at 11:45pm there were 3 shots heard by police and a swat team entered the building finding Grimmer and her two wounded children. At that time the children were in Very Critical condition and unconscious at this time there is no further word on their outcome.

Yet the Tea-Party can check off their box on another win column entry this poor woman is just now another statistic. In the Tea-Party world of social Darwinism just another weak human being has lost the race while the strong have survived, but at what price?

How dispassionate a society we have become as these types of events happen more and more often than not in this country.

Congress is still fighting to cut programs to the poor while giving or extending tax cuts to the rich. The top 1% have seen their income grow 270% while the poor only realized around 18% from 1970-2007. Even though the rich possibly moved by Warren Buffet who asked to be taxed more along with other millionaires and billionaires while their pleas have fallen on deaf ears.

There isn’t a Republican presently serving in congress with the backbone to stand up to the Tea-Party, Grover Norquist, Fox News and the rest of the, “I’ve got mine, get your own, oh and by the way I’m not going to give you a chance to get anything”, Neo-Conservatives.

President Obama said today that we are at a defining moment in our time and this country cannot turn its backs on the people of these lands we call America. Let anyone with a conscience hope and pray his words have not fallen upon deaf ears. Pray that this country still has a beating caring heart left for the sake of the people be they rich or poor.

For Rachelle Grimmer 38 and quite possibly her children who may also just become another statistic whether or not this country starts to turn back around will no longer be a possibility.

Wars are fought for no reason, banks are loaned billions of dollars for operating illegally with impunity and in truth Lobbyists are running this country.

What will it take for the United States of America to grow a conscience once again and realize we are all Human Beings worthy of the same opportunities and to begin to show some compassion for the less fortunate once more?

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5 Responses to Tea Party Success; Mother Shoots Children Commits Suicide After Food Stamp Denial

  1. Ian Curtis says:

    Tea Party had nothing to do with a woman too dumb to supply the correct paper work. Maybe Texas can cut teachers pensions to pay for the food stamps. Liberals are such assholes.

    • Slowdecline's Educational Articles says:

      Here we have the personification of the Tea Party showing their compassion for this unfortunate event. Let us all hope together that this woman did not die in vain, whatever her reasons were for taking her life. It might be possible that her death brings forth a change in this countries mindset and compassion however only the future will tell the tale.

  2. Great post. Well written and I especially like the phrase ‘social Darwinism.’ I am not to political, but your post strikes at the heart of the problems facing us today.

    It is sad to hear this woman attempted to kill her children. Has the welfare office kept up with the rising costs of gas, insurance,and inflation hitting the grocery stores?

    Wonder if they referred her to a list of food pantries or other options if they couldn’t help her? A little tact could go a long way instead of a barrage of paperwork and automated pre-programmed humans that rubberstamp everything without a second thought.

    Did she have skills to shop wisely? A little can go a long way if you have the know how.

    I hope the children recover and lead a better life and won’t be faced with such things as an adult.

  3. psalmboxkey says:

    Appreciate your sympathetic take on this tragic story.

  4. Thank you for your poignant tribute to this desperate mother and her injured children, who are presently on life support and not expected to survive. There are so many Rachelles out there, who are living so close to the edge and who see so little reason for hope. Rachelle’s 12-year-old daughter, Ramie, had changed her Facebook “work status” yesterday to “maydie2day,” and her grandmother had posted a comment assuring her there was no reason for fear. If only somebody had intervened, if only her father had supported his child/ren, if only someone had offered help, if only….

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