Eat Sh*t.  (Yeah, I know, I’ve said it before, but it speaks so well of the contempt of the poor).  As they debate the Farm Bill, once again they target the vulnerable and less able to fight back:  the food stamp recipients….giving them even less money for food that they can’t afford now…

I was watching CSPAN this morning with Rosa Delauro who is adamant on keeping the food stamp funds as is…and targeting the fraud in other areas that nobody speaks about.  You never hear the so-called conservatives, who love to kick the poor when they’re down, talk about this.   They try to categorize the Food Stamp program as full of fraud and waste….but never quite get around to putting facts out there.  Ronald Reagan started the “welfare queen” lie by taking a true story (a woman on welfare arrived to pick up her food stamps when they were still paper, in a Cadillac.  What Reagan and his ilk failed to report was that the woman was being given a ride by a wealthy lady so she could pick up her stamps.  Nice way to skew public perception to hate these lazy good-for-nothings that are driving around in luxury vehicles../snark.)  Good on Rosa when a woman caller called in spewing the conservative talking points that there was massive fraud and waste in the program.  A man also called in saying, “I don’t want to see anybody starve, but there are other ways for them to get food.  You have to cut these programs.”  Yeah, he doesn’t want to see people starving, so they best do it behind closed doors to soothe his conscience.

From the article:

Government audits and court records show hundreds of millions of dollars in losses due to fraud in a variety of farm programs, including crop insurance and subsidies that help agribusinesses promote their products abroad. The rate of food stamp fraud, on the other hand, has declined sharply in recent years, federal data shows, and now accounts for 1 percent of the $760 billion program, or $760 million a year.

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It would be damn near impossible to commit fraud with the food stamp program.  (Note that the error rate is at 3 percent.  3 % !! ) You must give them employment information, bank statements, rent information, number in household, etc., and you are checked up on.  And if they see anything that doesn’t sound right to them, they will call you and question it.

For instance, when I told them how little I made when in FW, they were questioning me on how I could make it on that low amount.  I told them that I washed my clothes in the tub (with the exception of once a month washing my jeans and towels in the washing machines); I cut my own hair (with sometimes hilarious results); went without deodorant except for important things like job interviews; washed my hair every other day, even though it needs it every day especially in the hot weather; I walked nearly everywhere so I didn’t use gas;  I brush my teeth with baking soda,  I count the number of squares of toilet paper I use, and other things like using cloth pads (but I didn’t tell them that as it’s really none of their business).

Everything that I needed (thyroid and other supplements) my son helped pay for.  I am actually quite proud of myself for handling this as I have–this isn’t how I was raised and it’s been a learning experience.

A caller called in who said she was a former food stamp recipient but now has a college degree and is working.  But, alas, she says now that the program should be cut.  Hello?  It never ceases to amaze me how those who have made it forget how difficult it was and lose their empathy for those in that position. (As a side note:  it also never ceases to amaze me how quick conservatives are to take money for themselves at taxpayer expense, but still have the nerve to deny people something as basic as FOOD.)

And I have a college education, but look where I am now….done in by stupid amalgams put in my mouth that made me ill, and wages that stagnated (otherwise, I might have been able to keep from losing my home and weathered the storm until I got well…perhaps not, but it would have been worth the shot.)

They mentioned on CSPAN that most folks on food stamps are disabled.  A man in the building I used to live in said he only gets $16 per month in food stamps.  He’s in a wheelchair.    Others on disability are not living it up.  You can’t buy cigarettes and alcohol on food stamps.  You also can’t buy toilet paper, soap,shampoo, trash bags, and other necessities.  Some people were using the plastic grocery bags for their trash in my building…much to the disdain of the management (throwing them down the trash shoot created mega problems).

Also mentioned in the CSPAN program is the fact that good ole Teflon Bill Clinton had changed the Food Stamp program drastically…while signing away jobs per NAFTA….Reagan would have been sooo proud.  It wasn’t until 2008 that they had addressed it again.

This whole debate is nonsensical.  No one with a shred of conscience can seriously say that denying people a basic need such as food is something that “has to” be done…especially when there is so much corporate welfare out there and a bloated defense department.  (OMG, did she really say cut the defense dept?  Watch out for drones, dear…)