The Republicans’ Food Stamp Fraud: It’s Not About Austerity

[babylonsister]

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/10/26/the-republicans-food-stamp-fraud-it-s-not-about-austerity.html


The Republicans’ Food Stamp Fraud: It’s Not About Austerity
by Michael Tomasky Oct 26, 2013 5:45 AM EDT
As conference committee talks begin, the GOP isn’t trying to cut $40 billion from SNAP just to save money. It wants to punish the poorest among us. By Michael Tomasky.


What’s the single worst thing the Obama-era Republicans have done? Tough one, I know.

But spare me a moment here—plus a thousand words down the page—and I think maybe you’ll agree with me that the single worst thing the Obama-era Republicans have done is try to push through a $40 billion cut to the food-stamps program. It’s just unspeakably cruel. They usually say publicly that it’s about saving money. But sometimes someone—one congressman in particular—lets slip the real reason: They want to punish poor people. The farm bill, which includes the food-stamp program, goes to conference committee next week. That’s where, the cliché has it, the two sides are supposed to “iron out their differences.” The only thing the Democrats on this committee should do with an iron is run it across the Republicans’ scowling faces.

snip//

The proposed GOP cut is such a piddling amount of money, in terms of the whole federal budget and especially when spread out over 10 years. But nearly half of it is quite literally taking food out of the mouths of children. What’s the point? The point really is that Tea Party Republicans think these people don’t deserve the help. That’s some fascinating logic. The economy melts down because of something a bunch of crooked bankers do. The people at the bottom quarter of the economy, who’ve been getting jobbed for 30 years anyway and who always suffer the most in a downturn, start getting laid off in huge numbers. They have children to feed. Probably with no small amount of shame, they go in and sign up for food stamps.

snip//

The other argument one sometimes hears concerns the dreadful curse of food-stamp fraud. The actual rate of food-stamp fraud—people selling their coupons for cash—is 1.3 percent, but this of course doesn’t prevent the right from finding a couple of garish anecdotes and making it seem as if they’re the norm. Voter fraud, Medicaid fraud, food-stamp fraud…Somehow, in Republican America, only poor people and blacks commit fraud.

This cut is the fraud, because it’s not really about fraud or austerity. It’s entirely about punishing the alleged 47 percent. The bottom half or third of the alleged 47 percent. It’s absolutely appalling. These folks have done a lot of miserable things in the past four years. But this—the morality of this is so repulsively backward, the indecency so operatically and ostentatiously broadcast, I think it takes the gold going away.

The conference process starts next Wednesday and is going to take maybe a few months. Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow has taken the lead on this issue and has been terrific. Ditto Pat Leahy. Max Baucus, I’m told, is a good get to go a little wobbly (surprise). But this is one where the Democrats have to say this won’t stand. It’s one thing to shut down the government for two weeks and take quixotic stabs at Obamacare. Telling poor children that that fourth box of macaroni and cheese is excessive is something very different.

[Frustratedlady]

1. The Repubs need to be consistent.

They want to ban abortion/contraception to add more children to an overcrowded world, but on the other hand, they want to starve the children or shoot them with all those guns they are storing up in the event Obama comes looking for them.

Now, for a party who is so war hungry, wouldn't you think they would fight to have those children well-fed so they grow big and strong to send off to their next war?

I guess they've never been deep thinkers.

[GoneFishin]

2. I think they are trying to mentally associate bad things happening with a democrat in the WH.

I also believe that they dream about a permanent plutocracy, so the more desperate serfs they can create the more workers they will have to pit against each other to bid down wages in their factories and landscaping their mansions.

So the more hungry babies the better. The more unattended medical conditions dragging down the working class the better. The more neglected veterans the better. The more poorly educated teenagers and adults the better.

In their view, anything that will produce desperation among the masses, so that they will compete for scarcer resources allows them to better exploit them.

Also, the more down-trodden people are the less energy they will have vote, protest, and generally participate in the "democratic" system

[B Calm]

3. If they just raised the minimum wage, it would solve a lot of problems.

[gulliver]

4. The poor are just a wedge really.

I don't think Republicans actually want to punish the poor or see starving kids on the street. That's the last thing they want. What they really want is power and money. Scapegoating the poor is just a way to exploit the frustrations and anger of the near poor. The ironic thing about Republicans is that they drive their people into almost sinful levels of mutual dislike and distrust for their fellows. That poison robs us all of social and economic wealth.

[Cirque du So-What]

5. K & R

It's shameful that the words 'morality' and 'Republicans' are even mentioned in the same sentence, but at least it's referring to their lack of morals. 'Family values' my ass!

[gopiscrap]

6. Fucking republiklans are the most selfish

assholes I have ever known

[G_j]

7. true

K&R

[marmar]

8. k/r

[Scuba]

9. Punishing the weak is Republican stock in trade. Their base loves that red meat.