Tighten your belt, cuts coming to food stamps

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
6/21/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Both the house and senate agree they want to cut food aid to poor.

The Senate has rejected $4.5 billion in spending on food stamps as part of a larger farm aid bill on Tuesday. The food stamp funding was part of an amendment that would keep the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) from being cut.

The cupboard will be a little more bare when Washington finishes housekeeping.

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WASHINGTON, DC (Catholic Online) - The amendment was proposed by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D - NY) and it failed 33 to 66. The amendment was part of a massive $969 billion bill and would be paid for by reducing guaranteed farm profits from 14 to 12 percent. Additional cuts to reduce payments for crop insurers would have also funded the food aid.

Gillibrand made a plea before the vote saying "We all here in this chamber take the ability to feed our children for granted. That is not the case for too many families in America. Put yourselves for just a moment in their shoes. Imagine being a parent who cannot feed your children the food they need to grow. It's beneath this body to cut food assistance for those who are struggling the most among us."

"Half of the food stamp beneficiaries are children, 17 percent are seniors, and unfortunately now 1.5 million households are veteran households that are receiving food stamps," Gillibrand added.

However, other members of the Senate questioned the integrity of the program which in 14 states makes users eligible for additional aid if they also get aid for paying their utility bills. By cutting the program, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that food aid would be reduced by about $90 per family. For some families, that could be as much as one quarter of their total food budget for a month.

Some states may be gaming the system by sending checks for $1 to families who need assistance. One dollar is the threshold of assistance, which makes a family eligible for additional aid. Critical senators are concerned that states are sending out the checks to get more money from the federal government.

The number of Americans receiving food aid benefits has increased, creating alarm in Congress that not all people in the program really need the benefits. According to the CBO, 26 million Americans received aid in 2007 and 44 million received aid in 2011. Much of this increase is due to the recession.

While the Senate debates what cuts to make, the House is considering even deeper cuts. In any case, whatever version of the bill finally passes, food aid recipients can expect cuts in the year to come.

� 2012, Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.

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General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
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Keywords: SNAP, food stamps, aid, poor, recession, Senate, House, agriculture, heat and eat

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1 - 6 of 6 Comments

JoAnn
11 months ago
"In my youth I traveled much, and I observed in different countries that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer. I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion about the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them OUT of it." BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
Theresa H
11 months ago
Seems to me it would be better to "feed the hungry" in our own country locally, or at least not from any higher up than the State Government. (The more "Washington" gets involved-at a distance, the more we also "feed" their own pockets via the bureaucracy....) Often, the poor need more than food, they need more help to learn how to help themselves!
Martin
11 months ago
While I agree that we as individual followers of Christ should be donating our time and money to feed the poor directly, Food Bank directors say that they also have record demand and they cannot make up the difference if SNAP is cut. You can look this up for yourself.

"St. Mary's Food Bank Alliance is struggling to meet the tremendous increase in need from the recession. We can barely keep up as it is because of declining federal support for the Emergency Food Assistance Program, which provides nutritious commodities for distribution through local charities. There is no way that we would be able to make up the difference if SNAP were cut. Food banks like ours need more supply, not more demand"
David Carlon
11 months ago
There is only one political party in the USSA.. the National Socialist Corporate Party... the fruit of a depraved and wicked generation.
BNev
11 months ago
"In some countries, there is a political strategy: "Poor the people and buy the people" (vote-buying)... I hope this doesn't apply to America in the future"

Hope this doesn't apply to America in the future? This is exactly what the democratic party has been doing to the black population since the 60's.

No one should have to rely on the federal government for anything but defense. God wants us to do what is right out of our own free will. Not being required to by the federal government. We should be out donating our time & resources at the food bank or soup kitchen.
Errol
11 months ago
Maybe most of these people that rely on food stamps are orphans of many patriotic soldiers who died for the sake peace and freedom of all. It's no longer a government for the people but a government for wealth, business, power and control. The government becomes a business enterprise manage by corrupt and power-hungry politicians.

In some countries, there is a political strategy: "Poor the people and buy the people" (vote-buying)... I hope this doesn't apply to America in the future.

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