I think it is interesting that when the government wants to start cutting programs, it is the poor who usually suffer…just as I know there will always be rancor between the haves and have-nots.
The Republicans and Democrats traded jabs recently over an approved legislation that would pare down SNAP (the food stamp program) by approximately 2.5 billion dollars and would result in about 2 million people being cut out of the program. A couple of congressional representatives were upset enough to bring Jesus and Matthew 25 up to point. They made it clear Jesus’ thoughts on feeding the poor. One said that Matthew 25 did not speak to the US government but he takes it to speak to the poor on individual terms. I disagree here; I think the government and its citizens fall under the umbrella of caring for the poor; we all carry the burden. We have addressed this issue before and I will not apologize for being repetitive.
Approximately 47 million people rely on food stamps and that program cost the government 80 million dollars in 2011. If this cut happens, about 200,000 children will no longer have access to free lunches. The children are not only those who will suffer but also the elderly and disabled.
I have said before and I will say it again instead of cutting these programs to the poor, there needs to be better checking on those fraudulently receiving help they do not need. Fraud is hard to measure but about 2-3% of recipients illegally receive benefits and it cost the government about 9-13 billion dollars a year. I will not address the government’s role in this waste, however.
Let me present some figures here and see what you can take in:
In 2011 nearly 13 million were jobless but we spent 359 billion on luxury items, 9 billion was spent on theater and movie tickets, we imported 201 million dollars worth of fireworks, 50 billion was spent on alcohol and 44 billion was spent on tobacco. Do you see any of your own frivolous spending here?
We should be ashamed. No citizen should go without.
Katie Altobellis
