Posted on 09/20/2013 1:29:05 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) Co-Chairs Reps. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ) and Keith Ellison (D-MN) and CPC Whip Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) voted against the Nutrition Reform and Work Opportunity Act of 2013, H.R. 3102, a Republican bill to drastically cut nutrition programs. ....
“Some of my Republican colleagues want to cut food assistance for needy families instead of closing business tax loopholes as a way to save money,” said Rep. Grijalva. “There's a basic question of fairness and who our country looks out for here. If you think more corporate tax cuts are the answer, go ahead and say so, but don't take food out of children's mouths while you're doing it.”
“Food assistance for working families fulfills a promise we make to each other: if you fall on hard times, your neighbors, friends and fellow Americans will help you get a meal,” Rep. Ellison said. “Eighteen companies dodged $92 billion in taxes last year, which is more than double the cut passed by Republicans today. Let’s cut corporate waste, not meals for our nation’s children.”
“The proposed $40 billion in cuts to our nation’s first line of defense against hunger, SNAP, are heartless, unbelievable, and immoral,” Rep. Barbara Lee said. “We cannot balance our budget on the backs of our country’s children, seniors, veterans, and disabled. As a former recipient of public assistance, I know that I would not be where I am today if it were not for the vital lifeline that was extended to me by the American people. SNAP serves as a bridge over troubled waters, and at a time when we are still recovering from the Great Recession, we must protect our nation’s vulnerable, not push them aside.” ....
Congressman Ron Barber was also critical in a press release:
“In Southern Arizona, more than 1 in 4 children are living in families that struggle to put enough food on the table. We should not be trying to balance the budget by taking more food from their mouths,” Barber said today. “Arizona is the nation’s third-highest state for food insecurity. As families struggle to recover from the economic downturn, it is unconscionable for us to be making it more difficult for millions of Americans to eat.”
A drop in the bucket, and simply asking the able bodied to look for work.
Okay; trade in your Obamaphone for FOOD!
The American people didn't just decide in 2008 that they didn't want to work. They were thrown out of work due to stupid government economic policies.
Blaming people when the jobs just aren't there, just delays recognizing the real solution and increases the pain of those of us having to help support the unemployed.
The American people didn't just decide in 2008 that they didn't want to work. They were thrown out of work due to stupid government economic policies.
Blaming people when the jobs just aren't there, just delays recognizing the real solution and increases the pain of those of us having to help support the unemployed.
So basically, it would cut free alcohol and tobacco to food stamp recipients, correct?
Yeah, then they have to drive to NJ or PA for some casino action.
"The bill's savings would be achieved by allowing states to put broad new work requirements in place for many food stamp recipients and to test applicants for drugs. The bill also would end government waivers that have allowed able-bodied adults without dependents to receive food stamps indefinitely."
So are their constituents drug users or just able-bodied and lazy?
Technicalities aside, they’re certainly both riding on the taxpayers’ backs and have lots of perverse incentive to feed one another’s evil wish lists.
I’ve often wondered why these bennies aren’t tied into some kind of unemployment certification, as weak and as easily gamed as that is. Some kind of web site where you say where you applied for work each week, with possibility of spot check (even if it is really easy to provide the proof, such as a copy of a job ad and another copy of an email to the prospective employer).
I mean, EVEN as weak and as easily gamed as that is.
Someone obviously caring, even if the situation is easy to cheat, is better than being utterly faceless.
“Just think of how much money could be saved if EBT purchases were limited to the same foods Mrs. Obama is forcing on high school students...”
and...it would also solve the severe obesity problem that plagues poor states...because most of that food, of course, would wind up in the garbage, and the remainder of the food stamps would not be used!
Yep - kind of hard to have an obesity epidemic, especially among the poor, when folks are starving.
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