The following is from an editorial in the Miami Herald:
Congress should leave the "hunger games" to authors and screenwriters. But too many lawmakers insist on playing with poor and working-poor Americans' ability to feed their families. No one will win here, least of all the people for whom hunger is a real and daily threat.
House and Senate negotiators must finalize the new farm bill soon if it is to have any chance of passing by Jan. 1, when the current bill expires. The bill includes funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP.
That the program has been an unmitigated success is irrefutable. That it has been a cesspool of waste is simply not true.
In 2012, SNAP benefits kept more than 5 million people out of poverty. It is a means-tested federal program. SNAP grew between 2008 and 2011, a reflection of increasing unemployment. Individuals receiving SNAP averaged more than 46 million a month in 2011, but enrollment slowed last year as the economy started recovering.
Cuts that some want go far beyond mere trims because slightly fewer people need benefits. The Senate's version proposes $4 billion in cuts during the next 10 years. In the House? Rabid lawmakers want to cut almost 10 times that over a decade. Almost 4 million people would lose benefits in 2014.
The House bill would let states impose work requirements, and those who are able should work, but there are no new initiatives for job training. There's no guarantee recipients will find employment. Should such people starve?
The claim SNAP is rife with fraud is a non-starter. SNAP has one of the lowest rates among federal programs — 1.3 percent.
Lawmakers should not undercut this successful and beneficial program. They're the only ones trying to game the system.