Republicans looking for ways to reduce size and cost of food stamp program

[Gina]

http://www.youngcons.com/republicans-looking-ways-reduce-size-cost-food-stamp-program/

the House Agriculture Committee will be meeting later this month to start talking about what steps can be taken in order to reduce the cost and make eligibility tougher for folks to get on the food stamp program, which will relieve some of the economic stress being placed on the backs of the middle class.

Some states have already pressed for tighter eligibility requirements, one state going as far as to making it a requirement for food stamp recipients to undergo drug tests.

Currently, a family can qualify for food stamps with four dependants and a gross monthly income less than $2,584.

According to The Journal, more than 20 states are preparing to reinstate time limits that were waived during the recession. They added that healthy adults without children would be limited to three months of benefits every three years if they are not employed or enrolled in job training for at least 20 hours a week.

If reinstated, it could cut benefits for 1 million people, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a think tank that specializes in low-income policies.

Has this been brought up here or at the DUmp?  This should get the hive buzzing   

[Big Dog]

I prefer a supply side solution.

Cut the food stamp budget in half, and cut benefits to each beneficiary by 50%. Make the food stamp card valid only at welfare commissaries, where plain-label commodities are sold. No potato chips, no soda, no brownies.

Fix 'em right up.

[obumazombie]

This is way too important of a topic to get less than full participation from our fellow Cavers.
The costs and participation in food stamps are at all time highs and are a disgrace to our country.


PS thank goodness as I was posting someone beat me to it.

[Gina]

I agree with Big Dog.  There should be one place you go to get this food.  They should also have plenty of fresh produce from those farmers that get subsidies.

[Big Dog]

I agree with Big Dog.  There should be one place you go to get this food.  They should also have plenty of fresh produce from those farmers that get subsidies.

Exactly. That should be the conduit between producer welfare and consumer welfare, since our elected thieves are going to continue stealing from you and me to buy their votes.

[J P Sousa]

This is related;

Obama edict repealed 1996 welfare reform's work requirement

Conn Carroll •  | September 25, 2013 | 12:00 am   


There were plenty of reasons why President Obama’s $787 trillion economic stimulus bill, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, received no Republican votes in the House of Representatives.

But one rarely mentioned reason was tucked away in the more than 1,000 pages of crony capitalist spending -- a provision ending the work requirement for the food stamp program.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/obama-edict-repealed-1996-welfare-reforms-work-requirement/article/2536341

More than 46 million Americans received food stamps in 2014, 20 million more than before the recession started. Total costs for the year, which will end up being roughly $80 billion, are twice as high as in 2007, when costs were $38 billion, after adjusting for inflation.   

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/food-stamp-enrollment-historically-high/article/2558375

I blame McCain and Romney for not having the guts to challenge Obama when it counted.

[DLR Pyro]

I blame McCain and Romney for not having the guts to challenge Obama when it counted.

They were afraid of being painted as racists for mentioning obama and food stamps in the same sentence 

[obumazombie]

They were afraid of being painted as racists for mentioning obama and food stamps in the same sentence

There were comments made that owebuma was the "food stamp" president and the race card was immediately played.

[JohnnyReb]

Stalin, the good socialist leader that he was, had a solution for that.....starvation.

[DumbAss Tanker]

Since there are around 48 million people on the program, knocking a million off of it seems like a drop in the bucket.

[docstew]

So, someone can earn about $2500 a month and still qualify? Food stamps are worth about $700 a month, so someone who makes $30K is getting a 25% raise off the taxpayer's dime. And that's if the only welfare they get is food stamps, but they probably get more.

I don't know about single store use for food stamps, but it should be something like WIC: You can only use it on specific items and only for the least expensive version. Also, they should incentivize saving money (i.e. you get a cash bonus of 10% of whatever benefit you DON'T use), but that probably wouldn't work.

[J P Sousa]

Lobster-Buying CA Musician on Food Stamps: My Lifestyle ‘Looks Like a Good Time, Man’

http://insider.foxnews.com/2014/02/24/lobster-buying-ca-musician-jason-greenslate-food-stamps-my-lifestyle-%E2%80%98looks-good-time-man

[obumazombie]

^Good find J.P. Sousa...

The featured leech demonstrates how to be a lib with little to no effort.