Republican-Heavy Counties Eat Up Most Food-Stamp Growth

[highplainsdem]

Source: Bloomberg

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney said in May that he’d written off votes from 47 percent of Americans who are collecting government aid. Turns out many of them are part of his political base.

Seventy percent of counties with the fastest-growth in food-stamp aid during the last four years voted for the Republican presidential candidate in 2008, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data compiled by Bloomberg. They include Republican strongholds like King County, Texas, which in 2008 backed Republican John McCain by 92.6 percent, his largest share in the nation; and fast-growing Douglas County, Colorado.

That means Romney is counting on votes from areas where lower-income people have become more reliant on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as food stamps. Mark Baisley, who heads Douglas County’s Republican Party, said many recipients will back Romney in hopes he’ll improve the economy.

-snip-

The increase in food-stamp recipients also was pronounced in Republican bastions such as Collin County, Texas, which registered a 128 percent increase to 47,102 households in 2011, and Gwinnett County, Georgia, where usage climbed 117 percent to 101,815 households. Collin County, a Dallas suburb, gave McCain 62 percent of its 2008 vote. Gwinnett, part of the Atlanta metro area, supported the Republican with 55 percent of its ballots.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-05/republican-heavy-counties-eat-up-most-food-stamp-growth.html

[progressivebydesign]

1. working class and poor Republicans continue to vote against their own best interests.

It's their State and County leaders that have more of an effect on their daily lives, but they keep electing shitheads like Perry. The media has not been very good about cluing these folks in that the REd States are being subsidized by the Blue States, and that the policies of the Republicans keep them in poverty and enrich their officials.

[Texas Lawyer]

2. Romney implores his impoverished Republican base to blame the African-American president for the

fact that they have not enjoyed the benefits of being the favorite son of wealth and privilege.

Nevermind that these same Republican co-dependent counties have been impoverished since Reagan was president.

[liberal N proud]

3. I pissed my bother off with this: Those who want small gov. are the first with their hands out.

[Dustlawyer]

4. This because they have mis-placed anger. They are told that all of their problems

come from the Democrat Boogyman! They have to be shown the truth, but frankly, they are too indoctrinated to reach in most cases. The Repugs everywhere are extremely vocal and negative. Dems need to do the same instead of ignoring them.

[yellowcanine]

5. Not surprising. Red states in general eat up a greater proportion of federal dollars.

It is the elephant in the room when there is any discussion about federal government entitlement spending.

[get the red out]

6. Extremist Religion

That's the bottom line, along with a willingness to be indoctrinated by Fox News and AM radio, where they get told that the Liberals are the great evil. They don't think they are part of the 47% because you see they deserve the aid they get, it's those other people (less white then they are), they're the ones who need to lose theirs.

Religious extremism - Radio - Racism = the three R's of the Republican Party

[Ikonoklast]

7. Those are the White people who 'deserve' government assistance because they 'earned' it.

Everyone else not them is just leeching off of the government.


They are either willfully ignorant or just plain old fooling themselves.

[Quantess]

8. Groan...