The KGB Oracle Forums General Public Discussion (SPECIAL ACCESS) KGB Political Debate Central Food Stamps benefits cut

Some 47 million Americans who receive food stamps will see their benefits shrink by an average of 5 percent this week.

So in addition to the $5 billion cut to benefits taking effect today, many in Congress want to rein in food stamp spending even more.

The Democratic-controlled Senate would reduce it by $4.5 billion over 10 years; the Republican-led House would cut 10 times that amount, slashing spending on food stamps by almost $40 billion.

Food Stamp Benefits Set To Shrink



Why? Because fuck the poor, that why.

First round was 5% cut, they are haggling by how much cut during budget negotiations, so there are more cuts of X% coming down the pipeline.

You "it just a little bit" argument is invalid. It is a cut. It has nothing to do with balancing budget, and just like with attempts to shut down PBS is purely ideologically driven.

This is throwing impoverished people, like a disabled veteran and lonely grandmother, under the bus to score political points with the base.

For some reason people on the right believe that "living off the dole" is a cushy life and if we made it harder all these people would find jobs and become productive members of society (instead of having existential motivation to turn to crime). This is charitable interpretation. Uncharitable interpretation would be "scree these niggers in the projects", because that is big chunk of food stamp recipients.

So chose - racism or ignorance.

If a person cannot find work and is unable to obtain food, what exactly do the Republicans think that person will do? Retreat into the shadows and die quietly? Migrate to the mountains and live off berries until the job market improves? Of course not. People with no available means to make a living, wracked by hunger, and desperate to survive, will not just disappear to avoid inconveniencing others, but will instead beg, steal, or kill, to stay alive. That is not a threat — that is simply human nature and harsh reality.

And this will in turn lead to increased homelessness, poverty, disease, and crime. All of these things carry a heavy cost for society both in dollar terms as well as in terms of the integrity of our social contract, and you do not need a Congressional Budget Office report to recognize that the ultimate price tag could be considerably higher than $4 billion a year.

But that is something the GOP willfully refuses to factor into its calculations — so obsessed is the party with cutting the budget and so opposed to helping the poor that it is willing to fudge the math to get there. The irony, of course, is that even though Republicans are diehard capitalists, and even though a simple cost-benefit analysis would reveal that keeping SNAP intact is the cheaper option, they are unable to apply even that principle here because of their fanaticism.

That is not governing and it is not even smart politicking; that is just bad old-fashioned stupidity.

How about this for math - it is cheaper to pay for generous social assistance than to incarcerate. Each prisoner costs taxpayers about $50K per year.

A USDA study found that for every $5 in new SNAP benefits generates a total of $9.20 in community spending.