Senate Ag Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D., Mich.) was a guest on the MSNBC Hardball with Chris Matthews program on Sept. 19 where the conversation focused on the recent House vote to reform the SNAP program (food stamps).
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
–kg
Posted by Keith Good • September, 20, 2013 • 9:01 pm From the Fox News Channel On the Record with Greta Van Susteren program, Sept. 19, “Is the GOP strategy to cut food stamps misguided? With spending cuts needed, a debate over the debt ceiling raging and a government shutdown looming, the House votes to cut food stamp assistance by $4 billion a year.”
In part, Rep. Cantor indicated that, ““Nobody chooses to be on food stamps. I think most people would say they want a job. People who are in need of help should have it, and this bill does provide for anyone that is in need of that help will get it. But what it also says is the dignity of a job is what things should be about in these programs. In fact, going back to 1996, when a Republican Congress worked with President Bill Clinton, they overhauled the welfare program in this country and instituted a workfare requirement.
“And that’s all this does. What it says is if you’re able-bodied, you should be willing to work, not that you have to have a job because there’s many parts of the country that don’t have jobs, but that you could go and participate in community service activities or a workfare program. Again, most people would say, no, I don’t want a life of dependency, I want to be able to get back to work…What’s happened since 2009, President Obama has essentially issued nationwide waivers to the work requirement. That was what allowed the 1996 welfare reform to be so successful, that people actually came off the welfare rolls because they were back into productive mode. That’s what we’re trying to do for people. We are not saying that there shouldn’t be a safety net.
“Certainly, there should be…Think about it. If somebody is abusing the system or if somebody somehow gets used to a life of dependency, how is it fair for the working middle class of this country to have overtime, to go to work two jobs to help pay for that? That’s the fairness in all of this. It’s to help people.”
–kg
Posted by Keith Good • September, 20, 2013 • 8:36 pm From the MSNBC NOW with Alex Wagner program, Sept. 20- “On Thursday, House Republicans voted to cut nearly $40 billion from food stamps–one of the largest cuts in U.S. history. The cuts come at a time when 49 million Americans live in households that struggle to put food on the table. Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., joins NOW with his reaction to Thursday’s vote.”
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
A transcript of the NOW discussion is also available.
This content comes from Closed Captioning that was broadcast along with this program.
Posted by Keith Good • September, 20, 2013 • 8:16 pm House Passes GOP Farm Bill Nutrition Measure
DTN Ag Policy Editor Chris Clayton reported yesterday that, “The House of Representatives finally passed a bill to fund nutrition programs as part of a farm bill on Thursday through a bill that revolved around cutting $39 billion over 10 years.
“In a narrow, 217-210 vote, House Republicans were able to pass the bill without a single Democratic vote. Fifteen Republicans joined Democrats in opposing the bill. It tightens eligibility requirements and would reduce enrollment of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program by 3.8 million people. The bill tightens rules on how states can enroll people for the program, as well as add tighter requirements, particularly for able-bodied people. The bill takes away the ability of states to receive waivers from those work requirements when unemployment levels are high.
“Almost instantly after passage, agricultural groups such as the National Farmers Union, National Milk Producers Federation, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and American Soybean Association issued statements calling on House leaders to name conferees.”
Posted by Keith Good • September, 20, 2013 • 4:08 am 
Twitter
YouTube
Google+
Instagram
Site Feed