Jan 262015
 

We’ve had many years to learn the Republican response to illness.  It’s the RepubliCare Death Benefit.  Those who cannot pay for care get to die free.  The Republican response to hunger is very similar.  With the elections safely past, Republican governors, like Paul LePage (R-ME) are celebrating their victories by kicking citizens off SNAP,

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More than 6,000 people in Maine have been kicked off the food stamp rolls since October, according to an investigation by local CBS affiliate WGME. Maine is one of a handful of states to make food assistance harder to get, and the cut-offs offer a preview of how safety net opponents around the country are planning to knock about a million Americans off of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) next year.

Gov. Paul LePage (R) decided last year to prematurely reinstate tougher eligibility rules requiring food stamps recipients to work. The state agency that maintains SNAP in Maine launched the change in October, and reports that 6,500 of the state’s roughly 215,000 SNAP beneficiaries had been booted from the program as of the end of 2014, WGME’s investigation found.

A Maine official portrayed the decision as “complying with federal requirements” in an interview with the station, but the federal government offered to waive those requirements for Maine and 36 other states back in May. In those 37 states, economic conditions are so bad that the federal government invited state officials to suspend the work requirement that usually applies to able-bodied adults without dependents who want SNAP benefits. When the economy is healthy and jobs are plentiful, a person with no disability and no one to look after must demonstrate that they are working or in job training at least 20 hours a week in order to get food stamps for more than 90 days in any three-year period. If economic conditions are dire, though, federal officials allow state administrators to waive the work rules for SNAP…

Inserted from <Think Progress>

Of course Republicans are trying to blame the feds.  But the Obama Administration has waived that requirement.  The reason is simple.  Every penny the federal government spends feeding hungry people is a penny Republicans can’t spend on welfare for billionaires.

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  20 Responses to “The Republican Response to Hunger”

  1. I guess Le Page and other governors do not want economic recovery for their states:

    "

    Economic Benefit

    SNAP participation correlates with economic cycles.

    According to the USDA’s Economic Research Service, each $1 billion of retail generated by SNAP creates $340 million in farm production, $110 million in farm value-added, and 3,300 farm jobs
    Every $1 billion of SNAP benefits also creates 8,900-17,900 full-time jobs
    An additional $5 of SNAP benefits generates $9 in total economic activity
    83% of SNAP benefits, equal to $53.4 billion, were spent at 36,500 supermarkets around the U.S.; the remaining 17% was spent at 180,000 small retail stores (including grocery stores, farmers’ markets, wholesalers, and meal services), for a total of $11 billion
    SNAP beneficiaries spend more dollars on food in local stores than eligible non-participants
    An increase in SNAP participation by 5% would result in 2.1 million low-income Americans receiving $973 million in SNAP benefits, generating $1.8 billion in new economic activity

    SNAP and the Recession

    SNAP is considered the most effective and responsive federal program to provide assistance during economic downturns
    Participation in the SNAP program correlates with periods of economic expansion and retraction; so when the economy suffers, SNAP can provide an immediate and temporary safety net for individuals who lose their jobs (and sustain consumer spending at the same time)
    SNAP provided $4.3 billion in additional economic stimulus in 2009
    Each dollar of SNAP benefits generates an estimated $1.79-$1.84 in economic activity

    Cultivation of Self-Sufficiency

    SNAP benefits help American workers meet nutritional needs, meaning they are more likely to be productive and will take fewer sick days
    50% of all new entrants to the SNAP program will leave the program within 9 months as they become more financially stable
    SNAP benefits help individuals leaving the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program by supporting their transition to economic independence
    SNAP benefits decrease by only 24-36 cents for every additional dollar of income (much less than most federal programs), thus encouraging SNAP recipients to work more or find jobs with better pay"

    http://www.snaptohealth.org/snap/the-real-benefits-of-the-snap-program/

     
    Sources:

    Center for Budget and Policy Priorities. (2011, March 11). Policy Basics: Introduction to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Retrieved from: http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=2226

    Feeding America. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Retrieved from: https://feedingamerica.org/how-we-fight-hunger/advocacy-public-policy/policy-center/federal-anti-hunger-programs-and-policies/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program.aspx

    Leftin, J., Eslami, E. & Strayer, M. (2011). Trends in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Participation Rates: Fiscal Year 2002 to Fiscal Year 2009. USDA/FNS.

    Ratcliffe, C. & McKernan, S-M. (2010). How Much Does SNAP Reduce Food Insecurity? The Urban Institute. Report No. 60. http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/412065_reduce_food_insecurity.pdf

    Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Food Stamps). Retrieved from: http://www.results.org/issues/supplemental_nutrition_assistance_program/

    USDA/FNS. The Benefits of Increasing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (Snap) Program Participation in Your State. Retrieved from: http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/outreach/pdfs/bc_facts.pdf

    USDA/FNS. The Business Case for Increasing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
    (SNAP) Participation. http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/outreach/business-case.htm

     

    • Thanks JL,  FYI, the blog holds any comment with over 3 links for approval.  I don't always see and release them as fast as I did this one.

  2. Not to mention that God (Republican supply-side Jesus, that is) forbid they should do anything that could possibly by any stretch of the imagination make Obama look good.

  3. Paul Krugman sums up the mindset of today's Rethuglican Party approach in his Op-Ed "Hunger Games, USA":

    Something terrible has happened to the soul of the Republican Party. We’ve gone beyond bad economic doctrine. We’ve even gone beyond selfishness and special interests. At this point we’re talking about a state of mind that takes positive glee in inflicting further suffering on the already miserable.       

    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/15/opinion/krugman-hunger-games-usa.html?_r=0

    They absolutely do take "positive glee in inflicting further suffering on the already miserable."

    No denying it, they are sick bastards!

     

  4. Congratulations on your 3000th article here, that is quite an accomplishment and we are all grateful you are here.

    The Republican governors will all find some way to blame their cruelty on Obama.  Just as you said, every penny they take from those in need can be given to the rich, or also, spent on war.   

  5. JLA above has very good comments above in understanding the nature of SNAP and its economic points.

    Gov. Paul LePage (R) got re-elected in 2014 despite being one of the most unpopular governors in the country. LePage won in part for the same reason he did in 2010: A crowded race split Democratic votes, paving the way for his victory.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/05/maine-governor-election-results_n_5896514.html

    How can these GOP Governors continuously drop people from SNAP, who are dependent upon to program to eat, live with themselves… They should try living in like these poor people. Yes, LePage looks as if he could lose a few pounds himself. 

    As SoINeedAName says, … "sick bastards!" They are more than just "sick bastards"

  6. I just started reading a book (fiction) called "The 6th Extinction".  Oh please, please, let it be about the extinction of the soulless ones, the Republicanus/Teabaggers!

    Many of those that are cut off of SNAP and can't find work will turn to petty crime or worse.  They'll be put in jail and voilà, they'll get food and shelter.  They'll get out, have the same problem, and all of a sudden it is a revolving door until the time that it is 3 strikes and a longer stretch.

    So who is mostly responsible for the economic crisis? . . . Republicanus/Teabaggers and their big bank overlords.

    Who is largely responsible for the employment situation? . . . Republicanus/Teabaggers and vulture capitalists who buyout companies, break them up throwing people into unemployment, and then send jobs offshore. 

    I see a pattern here . . . the Republicanus/Teabaggers who make the laws so they are advantageous to banksters and vultur capitalists; who get desperate people into situations that make it difficult to survive and then send them into the for profit prison system.  Now you truly do have someone dependant on government "handouts", and you have a new money making private enterprise.

    It is truly amazing that many of the electorate just don't see this happening.

  7. I think that in good conscience these Governors can blame the Feds. They can do so because they are following the lead of the Federal TeaPublicanT legislators who so graciously deny a living wage to people while at the same time cutting benefits to the most needy among us.

    Ladies and Gentlemen (I use those terms loosely) of the TeaPublicanT caucus, take a bow!

  8. TC – Congrats on the 3,000th news articles submitted. 

    An awesome feat and accomplishment. 

  9. Every Repuglicon state has the worst economic growth, the worst unemployment and the worst attitude to the poor and the unwell/disabled, so except for the fact that the exceedingly rich have got so many tax breaks under them so are sitting pretty, you'd think they'd have noticed that other states are doing much better by being kinder to people!  SIGH!!!

     

  10. With all the jobs that the followers of St. Reagan send overseas, it’s a wonder they don’t try to ship the poor and hungry overseas, also! They are the TRUE main beneficiaries of the cuts in ALL cuts to Social Security, Disability, SNAP, AFDC, Medicaid! It comes in the tax breaks, no-bid contracts, and loopholes that they slip each other in the laws that they make!!!

  11. Thanks all!  Republicans do NOT represent YOU!

  12. Gov. Paul LePage (R) Maine is one for the record books, World's Dumbest. My kids live there so I try to remain quiet… :mrgreen:

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