Congress shouldn't cut a dime of food aid: editorial

[OhioChick]

May 25, 2013 at 6:29 PM

If it's not broke, Congress shouldn't try to fix it. Yet that's exactly what some members are doing in their attempt to slash food aid as part of the mammoth five-year agricultural bill. The attacks on food stamps, officially known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP, are particularly worrisome as the economy wobbles back from the Great Recession.

Although the stock market has been on a tear, many Americans are still picking up the pieces and trying to scrape together enough money to feed their families.

The Republican-controlled House Agriculture Committee voted recently to cut $2.5 billion a year from the nearly $80 billion SNAP program. The full House is expected to vote on the issue during the summer.

On Tuesday, in an attempt to appease House Republicans so Congress can pass a farm bill sometime this summer -- something it has failed to do the last three years -- the Senate voted to make a much smaller $400 million annual cut to the program.

More: http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2013/05/congress_shouldnt_cut_a_dime_o.html#incart_river_default

[Puzzler]

1. Yikes... the comment section is an open sewer

of Teahadists all trying to out-Scrooge each other with inane and obscene posts.

(actually, most Dickensian villains seems reasonable compared with this crowd)

[John2]

3. I bet most of those

complainers are in the minority and probably racists, which think those benefits mostly go to minorities. One of the complaints were they don't work and are lazy. These same people probably also complain about raising the minimun wage. They also probably don't hire people.

The Government monitors people that get this assistance. I also can't imagine people stalking people that get this assistance. How do they know what people do with their EBT cards? Do they follow them around or something? It is like a Debit card with your own secret pin number. Low income people that work can also qualify for food assistance. I know a person that was in management was layed off and lost most of their income. He needed assistance because he couldn't find another job but he had Bills to pay and a family. My point though is, how do someone that is a stranger, know about anyone's circumstances, or are they just stereotyping people by something the heard? Do they actually know people who receive or need assistance? Do they have actual evidence of wide spread abuse?

[blkmusclmachine]

2. Shock Doctrine, baby!