The Senate voted down an amendment by Kristen Gillibrand (D-Ny) to restore $4.1 billion in Food Stamp cuts, by reducing corporate welfare to a handful of crop insurance companies, mostly based overseas. Only 26 Senators voted yes. We can’t just blame Republicans this time, 28 Democrats joined all Republicans in voting against the amendment. If our government moves forward with these cuts, 500,000 low income families will lose an average of $90 a month.
There are already cuts being made to the Food Stamp Program because of Federal Stimulus money drying up. The part that is disgusting is that Democrats are voting against a large part of their base. The job market is slowly recovering, many of the jobs out there are low wage, part time jobs that don’t help people get off of assistance. The private market is creating those type of jobs, the government jobs are being cut by the Sequester. Now is not the time to cut Food Stamps, once the unemployment rate goes below 7% then you can start considering ot, until then you are hurting people that Republican policies already hurt.
Food Stamps until President Obama took office were a program tgat generally was left alone by both parties. Every $1.00 that is spent on foid assistance programs generates $1.84 for the economy. That is almost doubling your investment, what other Government program does that? It is a program that helps the working poor, which the Grear Recession created a lot of. To attack the lower income class while leaving corporate welfare alone, which cost taxpayers almost $200 billion as opposed to Food Stamps costing $80 billion, is a slap in the face of the American public. Many of these same Senators voted to continue subsidizing Tobacco Growers just days before voting to take food out of a child’s mouth. Tell me lobbying had nothing to do with either of these votes. This is a heinous act of cowardice by a Congress that obviously is more concerned with campaign donations than with their constituents.
This cut in Food Stamps will result in a loss of 56,243 jobs. Every $1 billion cut from the SNAP Program results in the loss of 13,718 jobs. The Center for American Progress notes that the job losses will have the greatest effect on young workers. They account for a large share of workers in the food related industries. Is now the right time to inact these cuts?
Paul Ryans latest budget calks for $135 billion in cuts from the SNAP Program. That is heating and food assistance for the poor and the elderly, these are the people that should we should be cutting aid from? Seriously? These cuts to the SNAP Program would result in 1,851,930 jobs lost, is that good for the economy Mr. Ryan? Republicans sell these cuts by saying those on assistance are lazy, contrary to this Republican intentional misconception, most workers return to the workforce within a year of losing their jobs. But the low wages and part time hours created by the Private Market continue helping prople qualify for the program. Republicans are betting on the working poor not showing up at the polls to punish their policy of hurting the poor to make the rich richer.
Upward mobility is nearly in the U.S. Our People are stuck in perpetual poverty without the means to improve themselves. Every policy or Bill proposed by Republicans benefit the wealthy abd step on the throat of the poor. President Obama has been trying to create steps up the ladder to the middle class, only to be obstructed by greedy Republicans. But this time Democrats sold him out as well. Good looking out for your people and your President.
