Oh, SNAP -- The benefits of Food Stamps, and why Republicans want to cut them anyway
On April 9th, the USDA Economic Research Service released a report suggesting that food stamps (called SNAP) have an enormous beneficial effect mitigating poverty, especially in children.
http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/err132/
We found an average decline of 4.4 percent in the prevalence of poverty due to SNAP benefits, while the average decline in the depth and severity of poverty was 10.3 and 13.2 percent, respectively. SNAP benefits had a particularly strong effect on child poverty, reducing its depth by an average of 15.5 percent and its severity by an average of 21.3 percent from 2000 to 2009.
Today, the GOP announced that they want to cut the SNAP program by over 10%.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0412/75190.html
Those effected most are people who have never used the service before, but have struggled in the recession.
So why cut services now? When it's being used more than ever, when people are in more trouble than ever, why on earth would the GOP decide that it's not even enough to phase out some of the recent increases, but simply cut them off beginning this September?
Defense. If they can't cut social spending, the Budget Control Act automatically cuts the DOD budget. Why is that unacceptable? Well, I don't know, but I certainly look forward to the GOP rank and file having to run on a platform that says "paying defense contractors is more important than keeping children fed", particularly in Florida, where SNAP participation has doubled.
http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/err132/
We found an average decline of 4.4 percent in the prevalence of poverty due to SNAP benefits, while the average decline in the depth and severity of poverty was 10.3 and 13.2 percent, respectively. SNAP benefits had a particularly strong effect on child poverty, reducing its depth by an average of 15.5 percent and its severity by an average of 21.3 percent from 2000 to 2009.
Today, the GOP announced that they want to cut the SNAP program by over 10%.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0412/75190.html
Those effected most are people who have never used the service before, but have struggled in the recession.
So why cut services now? When it's being used more than ever, when people are in more trouble than ever, why on earth would the GOP decide that it's not even enough to phase out some of the recent increases, but simply cut them off beginning this September?
Defense. If they can't cut social spending, the Budget Control Act automatically cuts the DOD budget. Why is that unacceptable? Well, I don't know, but I certainly look forward to the GOP rank and file having to run on a platform that says "paying defense contractors is more important than keeping children fed", particularly in Florida, where SNAP participation has doubled.