Editing Edwin Meese (section)

===Comments on hunger in America===
Meese created a storm of controversy in December 1983 after his responses to questions about hunger in America. In response to a question about balancing spending cuts against the need to feed hungry children, he said that he had seen no "authoritative" evidence that children in America were going hungry and that some of the allegations "are purely political." When asked about soup kitchens, he said that "some people are going to soup kitchens voluntarily.... I know we've had considerable information that people go to soup kitchens because the food is free and that that's easier than paying for it." 

Democratic leaders and social welfare activists called his comments "disgraceful," "an outrage," "unkind," "mean-spirited," and "absolutely ridiculous". [[Tip O'Neill]], the [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|Speaker of the House of Representatives]], compared Meese to [[Ebenezer Scrooge]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/12/10/us/comments-by-meese-on-hunger-produce-a-storm-of-controversy.html |title=Comments by Meese on Hunger Produce a Storm of Controversy |newspaper=The New York Times |date=December 10, 1983 |access-date=July 24, 2014 |author=Robert D. McFadden |archive-date=August 8, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808212944/http://www.nytimes.com/1983/12/10/us/comments-by-meese-on-hunger-produce-a-storm-of-controversy.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/17/politics/17meese.html |title=Meese's Influence Looms in Today's Judicial Wars |newspaper=The New York Times |date=August 17, 2005 |access-date=July 24, 2014 |author=Lynette Clemetson |archive-date=April 2, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402014202/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/17/politics/17meese.html |url-status=live }}</ref> 

Shortly after, Meese offered a tongue-in-cheek defense of Scrooge, saying that he "had his faults, but he wasn't unfair to anyone" and that he suffered from "a bad press".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/12/16/us/meese-assails-myth-that-reagan-has-weak-record-on-poor.html |title=Meese Assails 'Myth' that Reagan has Weak Record on Poor |newspaper=The New York Times |date=December 16, 1983 |access-date=July 24, 2014 |author=Francis X. Clines |archive-date=August 8, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808214457/http://www.nytimes.com/1983/12/16/us/meese-assails-myth-that-reagan-has-weak-record-on-poor.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Boca Raton News">{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1291&dat=19831216&id=0FpUAAAAIBAJ&pg=2810,5409634 |title=Edwin Meese finds soul-mate in Scrooge |newspaper=Boca Raton News |date=December 16, 1983 |access-date=July 24, 2014 |archive-date=January 19, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119194447/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1291&dat=19831216&id=0FpUAAAAIBAJ&pg=2810,5409634 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{YouTube|4cWxFb1uNM|Edwin Meese defends hunger remarks, Ebenezer Scrooge (1983)}}</ref>