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2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumGOP should stick a fork in it
http://articles.boston.com/2012-01-30/editorials/30675241_1_food-stamps-supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program-eric-bostGOP should stick a fork in it
EDITORIAL | Editorial | FOOD-STAMP ASSAULT
January 30, 2012
IN SOUTH Carolina, Newt Gingrich received a standing ovation for calling Barack Obama the food-stamp president, while Mitt Romney was applauded for saying Obama is turning America into an entitlement society. South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint lamented that Many Americans are sick of seeing the guy in front of them in the grocery line using food stamps to buy steaks.
Its hard to know what point theyre trying to make and thats probably deliberate. That the program is riddled with fraud? (Its not.) That families receiving benefits dont need them? (The cut-off is $21,356 for a family of four.) That Obama has expanded the program unnecessarily? (Actually, it grew just as fast under George W. Bush, and Obamas increase, through the stimulus bill, was based on the sensible idea that every dollar spent on food is immediately reinjected into the economy, while also serving to boost health and nutrition.) Then again, Obama did acknowledge that his mother, trying to raise two children on her own, was once a beneficiary. So the attacks on the program carry a particularly sour resonance.
Now known as SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), the program serves about 46 million people. They use ATM-style cards that ensure only household food is purchased. The cards cannot be used for restaurants, alcohol, tobacco, household supplies, or even hot food in supermarkets. Eric Bost, who administered the program under Bush, told The New York Times, I assure you, food stamps is not welfare.
Still, there remains in some quarters a political association between social-welfare programs and African-Americans, which might explain why the GOP attacks picked up steam once the campaign headed south. But the share of SNAP going to white families has risen during the Great Recession, while that of African-Americans declined. The state with the highest participation in 2010 was Oregon, where 74 percent of recipients were white. Among the states with the largest one-year increases was Idaho, where 81 percent of recipients were white.
Keeping any family out of poverty, and any child free of hunger, in the midst of a dismal economy, should be hailed as an accomplishment. The Republican attacks are unseemly.
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GOP should stick a fork in it (Original Post)
babylonsister
Feb 2012
OP
Good article. Republicans are brainwashed to think that the whole country
Laura PourMeADrink
Feb 2012
#1
It seems totally crazy that we have like 3 million soldiers (active and reserve)
Laura PourMeADrink
Feb 2012
#6
Laura PourMeADrink
(42,770 posts)1. Good article. Republicans are brainwashed to think that the whole country
is becoming a welfare state. They actually believe we spend most of the budget
on welfare/unemployment/food stamps. When in reality it's only 9% of the
budget and is projected downward to 7% in the next 4 years.
Proud Liberal Dem
(24,355 posts)5. Yet any cuts to the ginormous "defense" budget
are considered "gutting" the military (to them).
Laura PourMeADrink
(42,770 posts)6. It seems totally crazy that we have like 3 million soldiers (active and reserve)
Why doesn't this seem absurd to everyone?
Proud Liberal Dem
(24,355 posts)7. Because we're the US of *-A!?
Other countries are probably afraid to ask about it. Also, a lot of people here probably either don't realize how large our military actually is and/or never got the memo that the Cold War is over.
Major Hogwash
(17,656 posts)2. I didn't know that.
They didn't report that here in Idaho.
Of course, by now you may have figured out why I came to the DU.
Our news is so slanted to the right in this @#!*% state that we have to lay on our sides to watch the newscasts on tv!!
FSogol
(45,360 posts)3. K & R. n/t
racaulk
(11,550 posts)4. Great article!
K&R!