Sunday 15 July 2012

More Pain for the Working Poor


The House Agriculture Committee has approved an unconscionable farm bill that protects grossly generous subsidies for the agriculture industry by cutting food stamps by a staggering $16.5 billion over the next decade.
The cuts — more than triple the $4.5 billion approved in the Senate — would deny two million to three million people food assistance of $90 a month per family, end free school meals for 280,000 children and compound recession hardships for the working poor.
House Republicans drove the cuts with complaints that the food stamp program is swollen with people taking advantage of overly generous standards. This is a canard — the Congressional Budget Office has found that nearly 99 percent of food stamp participants live in poverty.
The committee’s Republican majority attracted some farm-state Democrats in approving a $969 billion farm bill over 10 years. They bragged of reining in farm expenditures by $35 billion, but about 45 percent of this savings was taken out of food stamps; indefensible subsidies bolstering corn, wheat, soybeans and other powerful industry lobbies were largely spared. If Senate Democrats aim to split the difference in food stamp cuts, rather than fighting the House, the poor will be seriously hurt.
Speaker John Boehner might not allow a floor vote because he is reportedly wary of another embarrassing uprising by Tea Party members demanding even deeper cuts — and presenting cogent arguments in some cases against wasteful largess for the agriculture industry.
If there is no agreement by Sept. 30, a short-term extension of the current farm program would be the alternative. That may not be a good outcome, but it would at least delay cuts to food aid.
Original Article Here

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