One of the things that always strikes me about the House Republicans is that they constantly prostitute themselves to the Christofascists and proclaim their worship of Judeo-Christian morality, yet then push policies and positions that are 180 degrees opposite of what the Gospel message would have one do. Instead of feeding the hungry, aiding the sick, etc., the GOP seeks to demolish the social safety net and throw millions of Americans on the trash heap. The hypocrisy is amazing. Equally stunning is the fact that the mainstream media never calls them on this hypocrisy. Now, in keeping with its war on the poor and needy, the GOP House is seeking further slashing of the food stamp program.
Politico has high lights:
House Republicans are proposing to double their food stamp savings to
nearly $40 billion by rolling back waivers for able-bodied adults and
targeting funds to states that are willing to impose greater work
requirements on the parents of young children.
The prime mover is
Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) who helped jettison the nutrition
title from the House farm bill last month and is now trying to write his
own version before the House goes to conference with the Senate.
The prime target appears to be able-bodied beneficiaries under 50
years old and without dependents — a population that has grown
significantly since 2008 because of the bad economy and increased state
waivers of a 20-hour-a-week work requirement.
By rolling back these waivers, large savings are possible,
essentially by forcing millions off the rolls if they don’t find work
after three months. Unless approached with some care, the impact could
be severe in areas of chronically high-unemployment, such as the Rio
Grande Valley, poor urban areas and Indian reservations, for example.
And the final details of the bill have not been made public.
A second area of more modest but still controversial savings would
come from using federal funds to pressure states to take a more
aggressive welfare reform-like approach imposing work requirements on
able-bodied parents with young children.
Currently Washington provides a 50 percent match for states that
spend their own funds for employment and training programs for food
stamp recipients. As proposed now, the bill would only provide this aid
if the state is willing to operate welfare reform-like work activities
for mothers with children over 1- years-old.
This is a significant expansion of the current food stamps work rules, which exempt mothers with children under 6.
Peterson said his great fear is that the Cantor effort will only raise
the stakes on the food stamp cuts to the point where any compromise with
be unacceptable to conservatives and make it harder for Democrats to
step back in and help pass the final report from the House-Senate
conference.
Cantor is a vile individual and an embarrassment to Virginia.
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