Posted on 05/17/2012 8:14:29 PM PDT by DeaconBenjamin
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Melissa Booher is scared. For the last five years this mom has been able to put food on the table for her family because of food stamps.
"I honestly don't know what I'd do without them," said Booher.
But she may soon have to figure it out.
In an effort to reduce the deficit and replace what would have been a 10 percent cut to the military budget, the House of Representatives voted last week to cut the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by $36 billion.
"That's just going to be catastrophic for working families across all of the 17 counties of North Florida that we serve," said Bruce Ganger.
Ganger is the head of the local food bank Second Harvest North Florida. This year, Congress has already forced him to cut two million pounds of food from their distribution. Now faced with this, he's unsure how he'll continue.
"It's the perfect storm if you will. There's going to be less food in the system to feed them and more demand from people who are going to need the food," he said.
"Without the SNAP benefits and without food pantries supplementing those programs, I know a lot of families would be without. It's not just myself," said Booher.
According to the Department of Children and Families, more than one in four households in Duval County rely on SNAP. Breaking that down further, that's 203,000 local children.
Ganger fears they will be put in jeopardy if these cuts aren't vetoed.
"If they really understood the issue and the impact of this solution, I believe they'd reverse the legislation," Ganger said.
According to Second Harvest, 76 percent of SNAP households include someone disabled, elderly, or a child.
The legislation is currently facing a veto threat from the White House.
Guess I missed what DAD is doing to fix the situation.../s
Like Lysistrata, the females of this nation have the power to end the need for most welfare.
I understand.
I have tried to help a few normal people through the maze they get sent on when they try to claim the disability or retirement benefits we all think our payroll taxes are dedicated to provide for honest taxpaying citizens.
Yeah, no, that does not ever happen.
Our government depends upon massive fraud, waste and abuse to continue operating at the levels to which they have become accustomed.
Time to reset.
AH SO!!! didn’t think of the old block grants
I grew up on pinto beans and fried potatoes.
I still get upset when I think about what congress pays itself and spend money on stupid stuff like presidential Easter eggs. I say they should cut their salaries and expenses and staff by 10% then they can start cutting elsewhere.
i see riots.......
I grew up on pinto beans and fried potatoes.”
We didn’t have pinto beans but we had plenty of fried potatoes with wiener gravy for dinner. My mom canned all summer so in the winter we would have the potatoes and gravy with a home grown veggie and homemade cornbread or biscuits. We always had desert too - one homemade cookie, a big spoon full of bread pudding or a very small piece of white cake. Really wasn’t too bad and I don’t recall ever being hungry. My mom always worked but she spent a lot of time in the kitchen in the evening and weekends and everyone knew how to cook.
Listen we’ve got this god awful obesity epidemic due to hit the US in 2030. Now is the time to start pulling the food away from the potential fatties. BACK AWAY FROM THE BUFFET BEFORE YOU BECOME TOO FAT. The US government can no longer finance obesity. THE TIME IS NOW TO START THE DIET!!! /sarcasm
Many, many, many people on snap don’t have a kitchen or access to cooking facilities.
How come? How many? If they moved out of New York City to the midwest, they could maybe find a job and an apartment with a kitchen....right?
Because poverty statistics are calculated based on income only. Non-cash benefits from government are not considered. So, someone can have a small income and be receiving free or subsidized housing, food stamps, health care, utilities, and even a “free” cell phone, and still be counted as living in poverty. Now someone who has all his basic necessities provided by taxpayers may be poor, by some reckoning, but I don’t think it counts as poverty, do you?
Fourth generation welfare families in places like Chicago, Philadelphia, St. Louis, and etc... will be pleased to focus on their health.
“how does congress effect food banks???”
The Democrat Congress took away the tax breaks companies got for Charitable donations to food banks.
The EPA put in new regulations forbidding food banks from distributing expired foods. Donated prepared foods can no longer be distributed by food banks, and must be thrown away.
The common thread here is GUBMENT INTERFERENCE....
Idiot move by the House. There’s all kinds of programs that should be cut first that cost taxpayers billions. But no, they had to go for the entitlement that feeds millions in a recession. Smart move. /s
I do have to agree with that.
As my son said, “Men will usually just keep pushing the boundaries until someone tells them to stop. That’s why God made women.”
When did we (women) lower our expectations to practically zilch? When did we quit saying “stop”?
“I honestly don’t know what I’d do without them,” said Booher.
hmmm... you could.. I don’t know.. GET A JOB!
Many, many, many people on snap don’t have a kitchen or access to cooking facilities.
seriously??? I’m NOT buying that line of dribble. If they can get snap, they can get housing.
They might CHOSE not to have a kitchen, or they are to lazy to use one if provided. But no way in hell am I buying the “many many many”
I am sure you could find one. But I could find 1000 that don’t know how to light their stove or care to find out.
She had five years to figure it out.
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