Vote to keep funding in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Congress has grown increasingly concerned about spending for the food stamp program. Some 26 million Americans received the aid in 2007, while more than 44 million received it last year, at a cost of $76 billion. The Congressional Budget Office estimated recently that demand will continue to grow through 2014 in the wake of the recession. [...] Gillibrand had hoped to prevent food aid cuts in the $969 billion bill by trimming the guaranteed profit for crop insurance companies from 14 to 12 percent and by lowering payments for crop insurers from $1.3 billion to $825 million. – Huffington Post
HONEST TO GOD, when Sen. Scott Brown is more compassionately progressive than Al Franken, Tom Harkin, Dick Durbin, and including Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, who also happens to chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, you know special interests have strangled the Democratic Party so thoroughly that the tilt to the right has now gone into a full fledged swoon.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, official portrait
There are a lot of people who cover Congress relentlessly, so I don’t often remark on what happens, unless it’s foreign policy related, but this one required mentioning, especially since Democrats are hiding behind “fraud and abuse,” to see if they can out Republican the Republicans to cut people’s food stamps.
What this means is that people on food stamps will lose $90 a month. The House’s version is far worse, so who knows where the poor will end up when it’s over. If you’re interested in the non-punitive portions of the Farm Bill see David Dayen from yesterday, whom I’ll quote, because he already wrote what needs to be said:
The bigger problem is that the safety net is fraying, and with the demise of welfare, food stamps has become one of the few channels to deliver benefits to incredibly needy populations. Food stamps also happen to have a large multiplier, since all of the money gets cycled into the economy. And it happens to have an infinitesimally low error rate, so playing up implied fraud is not only damaging, it’s wrong.
From Huffington Post from Tuesday:
“We all here in this chamber take the ability to feed our children for granted. That is not the case for too many families in America,” Gillibrand said just before the vote. “Put yourselves for just a moment in their shoes. Imagine being a parent who cannot feed your children the food they need to grow. It’s beneath this body to cut food assistance for those who are struggling the most among us.”
The cuts target the so-called heat-and-eat initiative in which 14 states automatically make families eligible for more food aid if they receive even $1 in help paying their utility bills. The Congressional Budget Office estimated the decrease would amount to about $90 a month for an affected family, representing a quarter of its food budget.
“Half of the food stamp beneficiaries are children, 17 percent are seniors, and unfortunately now 1.5 million households are veteran households that are receiving food stamps,” Gillibrand said, referring not just to heat-and-eat participants, but the broader population of food stamp recipients.
Democrats sided with Sen. Jeff Sessions, whose philosophy is classic Republicanism now being embraced by the Democratic Party.
“Is our national goal to place as many people on welfare, food stamp support, as we can possibly put on that program?” Sessions said of Gillibrand’s amendment. “Is that our goal? Is that a moral vision for the United States of America, just to see how many people we can place in a situation where they’re dependent on the federal government for their food? I just ask that. I think we should wrestle with that question.” [Huffington Post]
I expect this of Republicans, but now Democrats are embracing the right-wing bootstraps philosophy, which helps narrow the difference between the parties once again on things that matter to people.
Buy another weapons system, drop another drone, but may the gods forever shun the largess of helping the poor.
I’d replace any of the Democrats voting against this bill with idiot pretty boy John Edwards right about now, no matter how many broads he’s bedded. He at least understood the “Two America” reality and wasn’t afraid to campaign on it, his doggism notwithstanding.
If Sen. Gillibrand is your senator, take a moment to say thank you. She played heroine on this one for people who have no voice and few who care.
Update: More here.
SIGH. Doesnt end. Ive met Sen G- she is great and a great speaker to boot. Her role model is Hillary and will fight to the end for those with NO voice. If Hill doesnt run in 16 she will…I hope!
Progressives are already shooting for Elizabeth Warren in 2016.
Gillibrand deserves a lot of credit on this one, Art. I hope you tweet this post, because people should know what’s happened to Democrats.
It’s only beginning, the “grand bargain” is next.
I did tweet this. Some will be mad. Others will be silent. Too many are silent for some reason.
They’re not even trying to help the poor anymore.
I truly have no idea what it’s going to take to wake up enough progressives to shake the elite. It’s the most astounding abdication of activism I’ve ever seen.
We’re now a nation whose Electeds think it’s bad to be sure people have food. Wonder what we’ll do about those Electeds?
It’s just so pathetic.
During a particular rough patch, my wife and I both were laid off from out jobs AND our youngest child (3 at the time) was having medical issues at the time. No amount of budgeting and boot strap pulling could adequately feed out family of five. We found that we qualified for food stamps and accepted graciously. Something about those hot meals in the midst of our employment crises (where before we are getting by on cold cereal, milk, and crackers for a spell) just lifted the spirits as well as nourish us. Actually my wife and I turned into staunch homemade meal preppers only during our food stamp days and we’re still like that.
NO it is not “our national goal to place as many people on welfare, food stamp support, as we can possibly put on that program…” But goals be damned. Folks getting axed and pimp slapped on the way out the door and food stamps are needed. All the folks I saw and talked with at the “food stamp office” were all folks that were laid off. And the vast majority ARE NOT scamming the system. This just shows that the majority of Washington DOES NOT GET IT and frankly don’t give a damn. Yes we have to keep our spending under control. And yes there are places were you can reduce spending to keep the food stamp program running at an optimal level. If you want to REALLY reach a “better” national goal Senator Sessions, how about giving a real f@#$ about the job situation instead of kissing the lily-green asses of Wall Streeters?
Thanks for sharing your story, T-Steel.
It really makes a huge difference when people talk about their own lives and reveal how hard working people come through bad times.
No problem Taylor. We in the information technology industry have been getting ran out the door regularly for 10 years. My story isn’t unique (as you know). I can spend an entire month talking about the fallout from massive IT cuts and the human toll. Some of my former co-workers…. Well they’ve imploded, exploded, and plain faded away into Apathyville sprinkled with deep depression.
It’s a mess Taylor. I’ve survived three layoffs but the 2nd one (the one that required food stamps) took a toll. And here are these frakkin’ Washington blockheads acting like it’s a bit ‘o luxury when on food stamps. They can kiss where the sun don’t shine…
Thanks for posting this Taylor. Gillibrand certainly has come a long way, from her days as a conservative congresswoman, darling of the NRA.
She’s my senator and I will certainly will thank her. As for the rest of these Democrats, what a joke. Whores all of them. They are completely unresponsive to the needs of the people and devoted instead to serving the gluttonous pigs whose money puts them in office.
Interesting:
Same here. I never assumed the guy was an angel, though even with that low expectation he managed to disappoint. It was about his understanding of that reality, and the impression he gave of earnestly wanting to do something about it.
Speaking of which, what was going on in Al Franken’s mind? Of all people…
Winning!
Voter have turned against the welfare state and public employee unions, but you still expect politicians to support them? Perhapa it’s to listen to the v
I don’t know why I’m even responding to you but I cannot let this stand. Your comment is a lie. That’s not what happened in Wisconsin or Ohio not if you spend more than the time it takes for FOX to say “Obama wasn’t born in the US of A”.
Winning? Do you realize how cold and nasty you appear to others with that comment and attitude? Perhaps that sits well with you and you don’t give a damn either way.
As much as I’m disgusted by both party’s nowadays, there is one truism that has stood the test of time. There are personality types that support the GOP as opposed to the Democratic Party. Given your ugly comment here, I don’t need to be specific regarding those particular personality traits.
Well said, newdealdem1. I for one, am glad you did not let this lie stand. How about the fact that welfare for corporations is booming at an alarming rate? Robin Hood’s Evil Twin Brother lives and he and his not-so-merry-men are driving Congress and the country back into the Dark Ages.
I don’t watch Fox News. I don’t care where Mr. Obama was born. Of course I realize how cold and nasty my comment ‘appears’, I wrote it that way. But, it is a cold cruel world and I am a merciless realist. That is why I try to write about events as they are, not as I would want them to be.
Perhaps Wisconsin was not about the PEU, solely; it was more of a pocket-book issue for the property owners who saw that their property taxes didn’t increase for the first time in many years. Or, it was about the municipalities that were able to balance their budgets without raising taxes due to the ability to negotiate for health care coverage for their emoployees outside of the union apparattus.
But, that is not the only place that the voters are looking out for themselves rather than the PEUs, from Taylor’s earlier post, the same is happening in Boston, has happened in San Diego and San Jose and is likely comming to NY thanks to Mr. Cuomo. You can hope that there is support for the PEUs out there somewhere, and Taylor can keep trying to prop them up as Joyce did with OWS, but the support isn’t there and if the horse isn’t now dead, it will be soon.
It is important, also to make a distinction between the unions. Police and Firefighters’ unions, though it goes against my beliefs, should be treated differently than other unions, because of the nature of their jobs. Teachers and municipal employee and state employee unions should be dismantled. Though I have empathy for the individual employees, I have none for the unions and I think that it is likely that the employees will suffer more in the end due to the unions than they otherwisw would due to the necessary budget cutss that are coming.
Many politicians in this country have just plain lost their souls…and…if they have their way, they are going to suck what is left of the life out of it. To coin a phrase…”They don’t care. They don’t have to.” They have their wealthy donors to prop up this “pretend” government, and everybody else be damned.
Yep, and now that Dems have bought into the austerity line they’re afraid to act like Democrats, because right-wingers will call them on it, which continues the rightward march of our politics.
Great, so now childern are going to go hungry because both Republicans and Democrats want to take away from the poor and give to the rich. So the rich get tax cuts while the poor get food stamps took away from them. Food prices are going up like crazy in this country,its hard to pay for grocerys. How flipping evil can these lawmakers get. Your right Taylor, we all knew Republicans would, but Democrats the party of LBJ and FDR to not sign on to this bill is shameful. I just got to hope that President Obama will veto any bill that has major cuts in foodstamps for the time being. We need to focus on getting people jobs and wing them off food stamps, not cut them off cold turkey. Many childern, people with disability, seniors, depend on food stamps. Thanks Taylor for bringing attention to this.
I mean, $90 a month out of a poor person’s food budget?
LBJ wouldn’t recognize his party today.
I think I have a couple of new euphemisms for the group to consider:
1. P-I-N-O
2. Republicans and Democrats are just two sides to the same coin of tyranny
heh-heh…
P == “partisan” ?
I just sent Senator Gillibrand a thank you for taking the lead on this as she has done many times before. But, this is an especially notable lead she took because it’s a disgrace that anyone should go hungry in our country, the richest country on the planet. And, especially, no child, senior or vet should go hungry. For a long time now, I’ve considered myself lucky and have felt for a long time “there but for the grace of the universe, go I and my family.”
I can’t express strongly enough the disgust I’m feeling right now over this. I re-tweeted her original tweet about her amendment and then wrote on my Facebook page about it as she requested of her followers.
Senator Gillibrand is one of the decent people left in the Senate let alone in the Dem Party. I’ve supported her twice with my vote and I support her when she asks for donations. I haven’t given anything directly to the Dem Party for years. The DNC will never receive another cent until there is a marked difference in their collective behavior in my lifetime and that means I will never give another cent for the rest of my life.
Senator Gillibrand is a great successor to SOS Clinton. She the same passion to want to make people’s lives better and has a great record of helping her constituents as Clinton did.
As for the Dems who voted with the Repubs, they are dead to me. Frankly many of them were already useless and dead to me and I will name them: Max Baucus, Kent Conrad, Dick Durbin, Amy Klobucher, Mary Landreiu, Claire McCaskill, Ben Nelson and, Warner. The newly dead to me for this unforgivable NAY vote (who should be especially ashamed) are Carper (who replaced VP Biden), Dick Durbin, Al Franken, and Harkin.
And, all those Blue Dogs: give dogs a bad name. And, Manchin! Just switch party’s already. What a fool he is! Perhaps all these selfish and cowardly jackasses who voted Nay to children, seniors and now vets who will be hungrier than before and the assistance given to them was hard enough to feed a family. Many went hungry even with food stamps given which have always been meager/bare bones assistance especially given the rise in prices of food. And, the food they can afford to buy on this program is not the healthiest either. Forget organic.
Anyone who takes food out of the mouths of children should be forced to live on the food stamps of which those children have now been unconscionably deprived because of that NAY vote. These cretins wouldn’t be able to survive one day!
This is what has become of the Dem Party when so-called progressives like Harkin, Durbin, Klobucheer, Franken and Carper vote like this with the Blue Dogs and the sickening Repubs (who are indeed morally bankrupt, evil, lying sob’s and,yes that’s that party’s legacy now). And, many of the Dems are following them over the morally bankrupt cliff.
When politicians like Senator Gillibrand and others behave like real Dems, we have to applaud them and reward them with our support and that I will continue to do on the local level.
Stands up and claps.
Yes. The dogs are calling because they are insulted by the comparison. BRAVO!
A good book about this problem of the hunger of the poor and foodstamps …… “The American Way of Eating,” by Tracie McMillan
Thanks, Pilgrim.
I got a call today from the DSCC. I just repeated the gist of this article’s headline, then told them it’s yet another reason I won’t be giving them money.
The absence of both RAJensen and Solo is deafening here. Where are the usual “Democrats Good, Republicans Bad” suspects when you want to hear from them?
I’d replace any of the Democrats voting against this bill with idiot pretty boy John Edwards right about now, no matter how many broads he’s bedded. He at least understood the “Two America” reality and wasn’t afraid to campaign on it, his doggism notwithstanding.
I never had a problem with John Edwards and his venial sins. That was between his marrage and his God. Edwards’ Two Americas meme was probably disliked more by Democrats than Republicans. We need John Edwards – if you are a liberal.
But then I’ve done sex research in the trenches, so the Edwards story isn’t shocking at all and believe me, there is still more of it to tell, most of which will sadly land in the category of the Edwardses marriage.
I’m a liberal feminist and I would literally vote for Edwards above any of the choices today.
But then I’ve done sex research in the trenches
Is that last phrase metaphorical or literal?
Don’t be vulgar.