House Republicans work to protect flowers while cutting food assistance to low-income mothers and children

I gotta give it to the House Republican majority; they sure have their priorities in order:

Slipped into the FY 2012 agriculture appropriations bill that the House is expected to take up today is an unusual provision on page 13 requiring the National Arboretum to maintain a very specific portion of its azalea collection.

“The Committee directs the National Arboretum to maintain its National Boxwood Collection and the Glenn Dale Hillside portion of the Azalea Collection,” reads the bill. “The Committee encourages the National Arboretum to work collaboratively with supporters of the National Arboretum to raise additional funds to ensure the long-term viability of these and other important collections.”

And while the House Republican majority is busy protecting azaleas in the National Arboretum, that same agriculture appropriations bill would cut $832 million/a> from a program that provides food assistance to low-income mothers and children. According to an estimate from the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities the reduction could result in as many as 475,000 people being turned away from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) if food prices continue to rise.