America, land of the free to go hungry

[dajoki]

America, land of the free to go hungry
The GOP's Ryan plan caricature of food stamps as a welfare entitlement out of control will tug the safety net from millions
Eric Augenbraun
guardian.co.uk, Friday 24 June 2011 17.00 BST
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/jun/24/food-stamps-welfare-cuts

As unfortunate as our current age of austerity is claimed to be, legislators at both the federal and state levels seem to relish the opportunity it has provided them to dismantle the last vestiges of the social safety net. If the economic crisis taught us anything, after all, it is that there is too much government regulation on Wall Street, and too many government safeguards for those most in need, right?

With the latest set of proposals, "belt tightening" will have a very literal meaning for millions of Americans as Republicans in Congress have now proposed cutting and radically restructuring the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programme (Snap) – the programme more commonly known as food stamps – despite record numbers of people presently on the rolls. Without question, these cuts and changes would prove devastating for many of those to whom food stamps represent a last line of defence against hunger.

Food stamps were first instituted in 1939 at the tail end of the Great Depression, but were discontinued in 1943. It was more than two decades later that the programme was established on a permanent basis with the Food Stamp Act of 1964 – as a part of President Lyndon B Johnson's "Great Society". Since then, it has undergone some changes but remains essentially intact.

And it is a good thing it has.

In March 2011, a record 44.5 million Americans received food stamps, which was an 11.1% increase over the year before. Even more illustrative of the profound impact the economic recession has had on poor and working-class Americans is the fact that this represents a 64% increase over the number of recipients in March 2008.

Faced with this evidence of increased need, on 31 May, the House appropriations committee nevertheless approved the fiscal year 2012 agricultural appropriations bill, which includes $71bn for Snap – $2bn less than President Obama's recommendation. On 16 June, the bill was just barely approved with a 217-203 vote in the House.

Meanwhile, Wisconsin Republican and House budget committee chairman Paul Ryan's "Path to Prosperity" budget proposes deep cuts to Snap, and even more fundamental changes to how it is administered:
"

rogrammes that subsidise food and housing for low-income Americans remain dysfunctional, and their explosive growth is threatening the overall strength of the safety net."

[FirstLight]

1. no words...

:scared:

:mad: