Happy Food Stamp Cut Day to Conservatives and Libertarians

Such a horrible story. And right at the holidays.

Food Stamp Cut Reverberates Across Country

Food bank directors have been telling local newspapers and TV stations they're worried the shrinking benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will result in rising need at a time of decreased donations.

"It's coming right before the holidays, and it's coming right before it gets cold outside," Melissa Henderson of South Plains Food Bank told the local Fox affiliate in Lubbock, Texas.

 

An ability to feed oneself is a basic expectation of being an adult. There was a time when if you couldn't do that, people would think less of you.

I don't think 70 million people are incapable of such, but it would be sad if true.

I'll ask again, what would be a sufficient level of spending on food stamps?

 

Poor is an adjective. Poors is not a word. What are you referencing here? I do not understand.

 

Poors = Takers

 

eddiewinslow has openly invited you to get together (multiple times including this thread now) and have a beer to discuss politics and ideals.

will you be going over to his home or join him in the 5th Ward for some soul food and a beer?

 

The US is probably the only place on earth that you don't need to work in order to feed, cloth, educate and shelter your family.

 

The OP seems to be a very optimistic person, with no bitterness at all.

I can't deny that our government and spending habits are out of control. And the idea that a bureaucracy can best determine how to care for people is unrealistic.

I understand and respect the liberal position and wish that we as a voter base were competent enough to compromise to keep our welfare programs sustainable. There is a virtually endless list of wasteful things the government does; cutting food-stamps had no business being at the top of the list.

The entire OP is inflammatory and polarizing. But it's always the scary "libertarians" that are polarizing everyone... right? I don't think any of us want to wish hardship on anyone for the holidays. Rather, I think we want those people to lead better lives, but disagree on how to accomplish that. Anyway if we spent more time discussing solutions instead of fearing each other's rational ideas, we would be better off.

 

Canada, many places in Europe. Asia, also, all developed first world countries.

In other words, please do some real research ling ling.

 

I agree with Major's first post on this one. Times still suck for a lot of people, but we're past crisis time, so it's only reasonable that this spending come back down.

Also, if it's true that a family of four gets more than $600/month for what is supposed to be supplemental assistance, that's pretty crazy in all but the highest cost of living areas. My wife and I spend less than $300/month for the two of us, and I think we eat pretty well.

 

So you are not denying that you can feed, cloth, educate and shelter your family in the US without working.

That's a pretty low cost of living, it seems like.

 

your credibility really goes downhill when you make statements like "The US is probably the only place on earth that you don't need to work in order to feed, cloth, educate and shelter your family."

That's all I'm saying.

I'm not arguing whatever RR is.

 

We really need to cut the pretense and just start cutting people checks. If the goal is wealth transfer, lets get rid of all the inefficiencies and special programs. $20k/yr for everyone. A guaranteed minimum income to replace all other wealth transfer programs.

Adam Carolla often talks on his show about how debilitating it is on a child's development to see their parents unwilling or unable to feed them. The most important thing he wants his kids to learn is grit and hustle, to understand the connection between hard work and wealth. When that breaks down, society breaks down. Everyone should learn from a young age they will not be fed without themselves or their parents doing work.

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Having represented hundreds of people who receive food stamps, I can tell you that the monthly food stamp allotment was more than enough to buy food. The modest cuts per family will still be enough to buy food.

Stop being such a drama queen.

 

Too many mind numbing and troll posts before to bother meriting a proper response. Yes government spending is wasteful. Cutting the food stamps like this was not the right way to go about it.

These last twenty five years have been truly tough on the lower socioeconomic bracket. Increasingly, the "poor", which many in Congress think can be put out of sight and out of mind, will become many. A decade or more in the miserable, uneducated, fear-driven, and fatigue-laden world they now live in... like the hungry faces in Karachi that peer inside my car on the way to the airport, eventually something will snap.

Those ignorant of history have no idea what a revolution look like from the eyes of the wealthy. One minute you're in your Mercedes stage coach, the next minute the way to Tanglewood, Memorial, River Oaks, or West U is blocked by the Morlock proles.

Clearly this is hyperbole. I use it to illustrate that whenever social, income, and wealth inequality get too high, terrible things happen to those at the top. It is prudent to have the lower middle class and working classes educated and well-fed. I think there's room for more cuts, but I think this Congress is nearing the breaking point.

 

Small cut, not drastic. Well here in houston children can get free breakfast and lunch at their school, so that is two free meals per day Monday thru Friday. The single parent can cook a good dinner for them on those days and feed them on Saturday and Sunday.

 

Honestly, I feel bad for people trying to put food on their table and just aren't able to make ends meet. But how about for the case of making it fair (if not shutting up wing nuts), just give every family $300 worth of food stamps...rich or poor.

.....

 

im pretty liberal but if we are talking about food, you can get buy with $200 per person a week easily. pack of 8 hot dogs are $3, 8 tortilla is $2, pack of cheese $1, green peppers $4, milk and juice $7. Thats $17 for 4 days of food. and i consider the milk and juice splurging.

 

For the left, virtue and compassion are largely defined by how much of other people's money one is willing to spend

If person A wants to spend x on food stamps, and person B wants to spend < x, person A has the more moral position.

Factors like opportunity costs, cost/benefit, debt, incentives toward dependency, disincentives toward work, aren't really a consideration.

This position is accompanied by a strong sense of moral superiority. Charges of heartlessness and greed are leveled.