Food Stamp Myths Debunked - 'FACT: Every $1 in SNAP benefits generates $1.73 in economic activity'

[Hissyspit]

http://www.hungercoalition.org/food-stamp-myths

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (or SNAP, the new name for food stamps), is one of the best lines of defense against hunger in the United States. The federally funded program helps working families, seniors and many others in need put food on their tables. But stereotypes about SNAP and who uses it persist.

Let's set the record straight:

Myth #1: People who get SNAP don’t work.

FACT: In 2010 according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers the program, 30% of households enrolled in SNAP do work. Of all SNAP households in the United States, 49% include children, 16% include seniors and 20% include someone disabled. All together, 76% of SNAP households contain a child, a senior or a disabled person.

Myth #2: SNAP is a drain on taxpayers.

FACT: Every $1 in SNAP benefits generates $1.73 in economic activity, according to Moody's economist Mark Zandi. SNAP not only helps low-income people buy groceries, it frees up cash for other expenses, such as medical care, clothing, home repairs and childcare. That benefits local businesses and their employees, which boosts the economy as a whole.

Myth #3: SNAP is rife with fraud and abuse.

FACT: “SNAP has one of the most rigorous quality control systems of any public benefit program,” according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. SNAP fraud has actually been cut by three-quarters over the past 15 years, and the program’s error rate is at an all-time low of less than 3 percent. The introduction of EBT (Electronic Benefit Transfer) cards has dramatically reduced consumer fraud. According to the USDA, the small amount of fraud that continues is usually on the part of retailers, not consumers.

REST OF LIST AT LINK

[Cha]

1. FACT

FACT: Every $1 in SNAP benefits generates $1.73 in economic activity, according to Moody's economist Mark Zandi. SNAP not only helps low-income people buy groceries, it frees up cash for other expenses, such as medical care, clothing, home repairs and childcare. That benefits local businesses and their employees, which boosts the economy as a whole.

thanks Hissyspit

[laundry_queen]

4. It's always been a fact and anyone who has taken basic economics courses knows this.

Unless of course you took those courses at the University of Chicago.

In general, social spending on the poor generates FAR more economic activity than tax cuts for ANYONE does.

ETA: I didn't mean to make this post snippy at YOU, it was snippy for those assholes who have been railing against food stamps on Fux news and for the anti-Keynesians who destroyed the economy a few years back.

[Deep13]

2. Na-uh! Guys on Fox told me poor people are hording all the money!

[SunSeeker]

3. Yes, and each dollar paid in Wall Street bonuses generates only 30 cents in economic activity.

Raising the minimum wage by a dollar generates $1.25 in economic activity for each dollar paid to the minimum wage worker.

Rich people just sock away their money. That's not great for the economy. Poor people spend every penny because they need every penny just to cover basic living expenses. That boosts the economy.

And yet, we've been transferring wealth from the poor to the rich for the last 40 years. The minimum wage was allowed to decrease in real dollars, as was the threshold wage exempting employers from having to pay overtime. It is very good news that Obama is addressing both of those problems with executive orders.

[ErikJ]

5. But what is it with EBT cash draws?

You have the alternative of using the EBT for food OR CASH now? RWers are saying they use the cash for buying drugs and alcohol.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

7. Years ago the "food stamps" were actual slips of paper and people were trading them....

They can't DO that anymore but Republicans talk like that because they know their Base is a bunch of assholes so they have to be bigger assholes to get applause from them.

[ErikJ]

8. No... I went to store with friend using EBT card

and it gives you the option of FOOD or CASH. She chose the food option of course. I forgot to ask her about it what it was about or how it worked.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

9. I am not sure but it might be the cash is not for everybody.

[truedelphi]

14. I know plenty of people who have used food stamps for the last several years.

None of them had access to the cash option.

We had themselves ourselves right after our medical bankruptcy. And we never even found out how a person gets to have a cash option.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

17. Maybe it's a future option built into the system.

[LuvNewcastle]

10. Some people are given cash on their EBT cards, but not everyone.

When I was on food stamps, I was only able to spend mine on food. I don't know who qualifies to get cash as well. Maybe it depends on which state you live in. I was pretty poor when I was on them and they didn't give me cash, so I'm thinking that you probably have to be pretty bad off to get it, or maybe it's for people with dependents .

[gollygee]

11. Some people are eligible for cash assistance.

I know someone who left an abusive marriage and was homeless and jobless at one point. She got housing assistance and cash assistance in addition to food stamps for a while until she got a job and up on her feet. She was absolutely destitute though. And she was still worried she wouldn't qualify.

[truedelphi]

15. One very good thing that Obama Administration did was for

Awhile, he had every county in the USA declared an economic disaster area. Some counties have recovered, but others have not.

What this means is that when someone like your friend applied for food stamps, she was not told that she need to spend 20 to 40 hours a week looking for work in order to have the food stamps. (The old criteria.)

In this economy, with the cost of gas, if you spend twenty to thirty hours looking for work, for jobs that don't exist, you' re out X amount of money, and the food stamp allotment doesn't even make up for it.

[Glitterati]

12. The EBT card is used for BOTH Food Stamps and TANF

TANF is cash assistance, but it is deposited on the same EBT card as the Food Stamps.

So, for instance, you went to the grocery store with your friend and they bought food and things like toilet paper, soap, laundry detergent. The non-edible items cannot be paid for using Food Stamp benefits. So, once the products are rung up, the edible items are deducted from the EBT card using food stamps, and then the cash benefits are used to pay for the non-edible items.

Keep in mind, though, that TANF is usually a very small amount. In Georgia, for instance, a family of 4 gets a monthly TANF cash benefit of around ~400.00/month. That amount is supposed to cover things like rent, utilities and non-edible grocery items like soap and toilet paper.

[haele]

16. I can see that set up in a state that uses one card for all state run services.

One card can be loaded with EBT and other dedicated funds from a state account at the beginning of the month, and the card holder can pick which option they are allowed to use at specified service providers. This could potentially also be used as an FSA for Medicaid services.

I've got no problems with that sort of set-up; the EBT and specified service subsidies - housing, medical, or utilities subsidies can be identified and regulated by accounts, and state cash supplemental payments can be pulled out of the same card.

Haele

[Spitfire of ATJ]

6. Republicans don't want the homeless to qualify. They figure you should PAY for being a loser.

[mindwalker_i]

13. Republicans don't want to generate economic activity

The rich are fine, and improving the economy would make Obama look good.