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Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Food Stamp War
Fresh Produce Poll
Maybe if we stopped viewing the value of education for the
value of its price tag, we'd get a clearer picture of the pros and cons
of grad school. Not everything can be properly evaluated with a
financial measuring stick.
Taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize the consumption of
sugar-sweetened beverages. It is time for the federal government to take
a second look at this issue.
We don't usually equate "summer vacation" and empty stomachs.
Did you know child hunger and food insecurity often peak in the summer?
An overwhelming majority of children who receive free meals at school
aren't as lucky once school lets out.
Some of the voices least often heard in the corridors of
Congress are those of the families who can't afford lobbyists, don't
make campaign contributions, but who can bear witness first hand to the
life-changing benefits of a food and nutrition assistance program like
SNAP.
Today, the Coalition on Human Needs sent a letter making these points to every senator.
May 16, 2012
Dear Senator:
Today you will have the opportun...
Would critics of SNAP exhibit the same level of outrage if they
learned that several Roby, Texas, cotton farmers shared a $46 million
jackpot in 1996 and still receive hundreds of thousands of dollars
apiece in federal subsidies for years after?
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It's time for members of Congress to say they're going to do
their part and support legislation that creates a circle of protection
around programs that are vital to hungry and poor people.
What are you doing in your home, your family, in your schools
and communities to end the attack on our children and our nation's
future? We have the power to take back our health.
Programs like Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, food
stamps, and transitional housing are lifelines that work when people
fall on hard times. We need to preserve them. But that's not what the
Ryan "reconciliation budget" just passed by the House of Representatives
would do.
"Most think people on food stamps are sponges, but my mother is
everything but a sponge. We don't struggle because my mom doesn't work
hard enough. We struggle because of the economy and simply because what
cards we were dealt."
It is clear that this administration has a double standard when
it comes to accountability. Poor and working families must prove their
need, at every step, in order to receive even the bare minimum of
assistance.
I had worked as a newspaper reporter for more than a decade,
interviewing presidential candidates and reality TV stars. I had a
college degree and a retirement account. Never once had I thought I
would need help with something as basic as buying food for my kid.
The impact of more cuts on children and families who now
receive a nutritionally adequate diet from SNAP would be devastating.
Where is the justice in a vote to protect wealthy farmers over hungry
children?
Most young men and women today want to work hard, but for those under 25 years old, work has often been impossible to find.
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