Every Democrat in the House opposed this cut, but the measure passed by a 217-210 vote, though it appears unlikely that it has any likelihood of success in the Democratically-controlled Senate.
Congressman Matt Cartwright, who represents half of the Lehigh Valley, decried a bill "that will take the food out the mouths of nearly 4 million Americans next year." In a statement denouncing a "draconian" measure, the Scranton-based Congressman adds that this Bill will cut school lunches for over 200,000 children as well as food assistance to 170,000 veterans.
Congressman Charlie Dent, who represents the remainder of the Lehigh Valley, was undecided about this bill but voted with his party, mainly to get it to a conference committee so that a larger Farm bill can be adopted. He predicted that cuts in the final bill will be closer to $6 billion, as opposed to the $39 billion in thhe House version.
He supports a provision imposing work requirements on able-bodied adults without dependents. "I'm fine with that," he noted. He also pointed out that food assistance to children and veterans would come through other programs.
Alan Jennings, whose Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley operates the Second Harvest Food Bank, distributed a record seven million pounds of food last year. "Wwe need more support, not less," he observed. "The proposal by radicals in the House who have bullied the moderates into submission is an attack on working people whose only offense is that their skills are of little value in an increasingly complex, harsh and unforgiving marketplace."
Updated 9/25/13.
83 comments:
I agree the decision to cut food assistance is a bad idea in this economy. Democrats got that right.
But Cartwright and Dems also acted shamefully yesterday when they walked out on the testimony by the parents of Benghazi victims. That was a scumbag move by him and all but 2 Dems present. Those people had a right to speak, they had an obligation to listen.
Perhaps you could ask Cartwright about that low blow. We deserve better than both these parties.
poor people want to be poor so they can continue to suck the government teat. a hole dems keep enabling these leeches
Bernie
Not sure what prompted this vote or how the amount cut relates to the total program, but there is abuse in the program.
There is an entire industry of people selling their excess food stamps for cash.
Cutting the program doesn't necessarily mean people are going hungry. It might mean that they'll have to go without cigarettes and alcohol though.
Our family eats beans and pbj. We don't want your govt benefits. They're not taking food out of the kids mouth, they're forcing them to make a lifestyle change which may not be a bad thing.
I learned, concerned people should directly donate to charities, since more money gets to the needy than any money taken by the government.
Given that food stamp use (abuse?) has risen by leaps and bounds since Obama took office, and fixed the economy, mind you, it seems likely the program needs to become more careful how it spends our money.
If the only way to tighten up the food stamp budget is by making the administrators do the same with less (as we all are expected to do) I have no problem with this kind of trimming.
A recent Huffington Post review of military records found military families rely on more than $100 million in food stamps a year. The liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has estimated that 170,000 veterans would feel the pinch from the bill. So to 7:27, 7:31, 7:40 and 8:04, FUCK YOU, for not supporting our troops. Again, if you didn't hear me, FUCK YOU, for not supporting our troops.
Every Republican Congressman who voted for this bill, including Charlie Dent, needs to apologize to each disabled veteran on food stamps!
Military-connected recipients of any kind do NOT need to have their benefits cut.
Food stamp program administrators just need to prioritize how it spends its money. That's what they are paid to do as stewards of our taxes.
GAO says 10% of food stamp claims are bogus. 10 frickin' percent! What's being cut is the waste that's skyrocketed in the last four years. And Obama's on his sixth vacation this year.
And what about that worm Cartwright bolting before Benghazi murder victims' families testified? What a worthless waste of human skin. His family should meet a similar tragedy and politicians should stop by to piss on their graves - which is exactly what that piece of shit did yesterday. And Panto LOVES this asshole. Birds of a shit-covered feather...
I agree with Anonymous 7:31 AM but the problem is that many people that may be hurt by such a cut; are in fact, using the program honestly and to help feed their children. SO...???
9:27
Thanks for giving us the reasoned argument of the left.
10:12
If we continue to spend money we don't have without addressing the fraud, waste and abuse, there won't be ANY money left for those who truly need it.
"Not sure what prompted this vote or how the amount cut relates to the total program, but there is abuse in the program."
Agreed. But you go after the abuse, not the program. I have no problem with drug testing or requiring able bodies people who are childless being required to look for work, but this measure really is draconioan. It rolls back to the original eligibility limits.
In my opinion, it is a shameful vote.
If you want to refer to a news source, I don't mind a paragraph or two, but I expect to see a link to the news source. I will not allow long excerpts, especially when the sourceis a=inaccurate. And the HuffPo article to which there was no link is, in fact, inaccurate.
The article is inaccurate bc it states $20 billion is being cut when the figure is actually $38-40 billion.
I have no problem with this kind of trimming."
Because you are not one of the one out of seven Americans receiving some form of assistance.
They're not taking food out of the kids mouth, they're forcing them to make a lifestyle change which may not be a bad thing. "
I see. Starvation is now a "lifestyle change."
Please see "Eligibility Cuts for Jobless Workers Could Affect 170,000 Low-Income Veterans" from http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=4009
I don't know what the answer is but I do know I am tired of being behind individuals purchasing better food than I am with their snap card and then paying cash for cigarettes.
Is this doing the greatest good for the greatest amount of people? I think not. Congress is really EF'd up and I for one am glad this bill will suffer it's deserved death in the Senate. Shameful.
"Starvation is now a "lifestyle change.""
I saw that too, how great is that. the Teabaggers are just great for these type of ideas.
Out of the mouth of Rush and Beck come these ass backward slogans and sicko talking points. Scum..
This country's poor are fat. The US has no idea what poor is.
Top selling book categories in US publishing:
#1 ... cookbooks
#2 ... diet books
God bless 'murica
Screwing and ignoring our living veterans has been an ongoing problem in this country for decades upon decades. They are near the bottom rung on the social ladder and are easily forgotten and discarded after the gov't has used them up and sapped their patriotism dry. PTSD..mental illness..suicide..spousal and child abuse..you name it and the veterans are up to their necks in it. Take their food stamps too. NUTZ!
Bring back the draft and a citizen Army. Result, less wars, more buy in by the entire country and better care for our veterans. right now less than 1% of the nation serves the other 99%.
Maybe you should feed that starving child instead of demanding our government do it. I'll claim the heartless conservative title but what's your excuse?
As a 61 year old veteran, who became almost totally disabled in 2011 after being hit by truck on I-78 while doing my $211 a week job, my famly food stamps were cut last year from $272 to $37 because I now receive $486 in SSDI. Is that due to The Tea Party? I think not.
As a 61 year old veteran, who became almost totally disabled in 2011 after being hit by truck on I-78 while doing my $211 a week job, my family food stamps were cut last year from $272 to $37 because I now receive $486 in SSDI. Is that due to The Tea Party? I think not.
How many of those food stamps do you see flashed at Wegman's Bernie? Maybe you should venture across the street to Walmart. You're out an out of touch liberal.
What's wrong with a lifestyle Change? When times are tough some people adjust. Others just stick their hand out further. Really is it so hard to eat a bologna sandwich for lunch instead of take out? Instead of living high on the hog or government teat make an adjustment. Self reliance is a lost virtue in todays society.
Evidently the proposed cut is 40 billion over a 10 year period. That's just a 4% decrease in current funding. This to a program that has doubled in the past couple years.
The reduced funding bill also restricts some questionable access, like food stamps to college students. It also requires some drug testing for recipients.
Still looks to me like an idea worth considering.
"How many of those food stamps do you see flashed at Wegman's Bernie? "
I am well aware that food stamps are abused, but that is no reason for this remedy. It's obscene. At the same time, Congressman give themselves $100+ per day per diems. You won't see them in Walmart.
Bernie,
Why not do a post on Cartwright walking out of the house hearing?
Scott Armstrong
I would like to have access to the same Healthcare plan as Congress. What is good for them, is good for the rest of the Country.
What happened to the "No Label's" moniker?
"Why not do a post on Cartwright walking out of the house hearing?"
Because this matters a bit more. Don't exactly feel outraged by that.
"Why not do a post on Cartwright walking out of the house hearing?"
Bernie, Cartwright's office got the "real" story out. A vote was called and the committee Chairman Isa, ended the committee meeting. The Dem's left to vote and he had the people come in and photos taken of the empty Dem seats. He then sent the pictures to the right wing blogs and Fox. From there it went viral.
A teabagger set-up job with absolutely no basis in fact.
So much for "fair and balanced"
http://mediamatters.org/blog/2013/09/20/these-pictures-prove-fox-is-lying-democrats-did/196000
I realize media matters is slanted, but it appears that the claim that Dems walked out is inaccurate. perhaps it might be more accurate to say that members of both parties were largely absent during portions of the testimony.
Hey Scot Armstrong, get a life.
Armstrong "Great" Scott
"CNN reported last night that Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, a Republican supporter of the bill, received a daily meal allowance of $127.41, or 91 times the average daily food-stamp benefit. Lucas is also notable as a recipient of the agriculture subsidies his committee doles out: He and his wife have collected more than $40,000 worth."
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/09/republicans-we-were-too-nice-to-the-hungry.html
91 X 365 = 33,215 people could be fed in a year by this 1 individual's subsidy.
Amamark is the only provider I have heard of that can provide a comple meal for $1.40 or less.
1259. AHHHHhhh
The Far From Balance News Network....They distort, you decide.
I do not believe anything the right wing media says.
Even Newt Gingrich is now a commentator for CNN's Cross fire where you are sure to get substantive debate from both sides.
Meanwhile, Faux News has the morning Breakfast bash. Bash this, and bash that.
355. Thank you for your service. Your unfortunate accident is a perfect example why a safety net exists. Tort reform placing caps would have given you a lifetime limit even if you were completely disabled.
Did you go from receiving a $272 benefit to a combined federal benefit of $523 ($37+ $486)? It appears you are getting a net gain?
The problem with you liberal hypocrites is that you want to lavish the so-called "poor" with food, housing, TVs, education and God knows what else ... just as long as someone ELSE pays for it. How many of you posters cheat on your income tax returns after voting for all these bleeding heart giveaways that all the rest of us are expected to pay for? You know you do it and you know who you are. Faux News right wing media my ass. You people are goddam hypocrites.
Let's see. This is a $40 billion cut that will hurt children and vets. If the Senate goes along with this idiocy, 3.8 million will be cut next year. It's simply wrong, as you will find out next election cycle.
Well, of course. Next election cycle when the drones vote themselves another handout. Just like 2012. This once-great country is f**ked.
"Basic needs" refers to those fundamental requirements that serve as the foundation for survival. Access to the basic needs of life, including shelter, food, and clothing is necessary to the development of a strong community and a necessary precursor to individual self-sufficiency.
Gosh, and here I thought the precursors to "self-sufficiency" were personal responsiblity and work. Guess I'll quit my job and let you support me.
6:29, A lot of us would be glad to see you gone. Mo American tries to justify the starvation of children. Personal responsibility? I guess the kids should go back to work in the mines.
Does anyone remember $1.25 gasoline? If we do not have a livable wage, commensurate to volitle commodity price's, we will be unable to afford basic necessities. Not to mention Payment of Taxes that that we could buy food with ;thus; negating the need for Public Assistance.
The Legislator that require's the spondulix of 91 people a day, for Nutritional Assisstance is an affront to the TAXPAYER'S.
A comparison cost/benefit analysis of Congressional Meal Expenditure's should be done to highlight the disparate hipocracy.
At what point do we Panic?
See, here's where the hypocrisy comes in, Bernie. You want to "feed the children", but you don't want to pay for it. You want everyone else to pay for it. Do you not remember freely admitting that you don't report all your income? You're not willing to pay your fair share; but you condemn me for resenting it. I expect this will be deleted quickly.
"You're not willing to pay your fair share; 6:56 PM"
Why continue to Fund a bad Investment?
6:56, aka Tricia Mezzacappa, Go take your drug cocktail. It's no surprise to me that you are among the lunatics who would allow children to starve. In your case, you would rather work to free convicted child rapist Michael Piper. Voters resoundingly rejected you when you ran for county council, and West Easton voters will dump you this November. And no, I never told you I don't report my income or 1/100th the things you attribute to me. You make up stories about numerous people, from me to sheriffs to judges. You even lie about Gregory. When he finds out you've been referring to him in court documents as your "boyfriend" and "significant other," he'll ask the judge to add more time to his sentence. Now go take your drug cocktail, talk to Earl and leave the sane people alone.
Clinton,I remember 32 cent gas.
anon 6:07, this is why most normal people can't follow you baggers. I, as well as most other Americans "work" for a living, I, as well as many other Americans pay those bills. What makes you think you assholes are the only people working in this country?
The real Tax cheats are your 1%er buddies.
I do my own taxes, the rich have accountants that figure out all the loopholes in the code to take advantage of. Also given that wages as well as any basic assistance programs have been far exceeded by the cost of living increases, the idea that any assistance program is a dream come true is "NUTZ".
Try living on that amount.
Also for every welfare queen", I can find you a thousand crooks getting government subsidies in Agribusiness, oil, gas and Wall Street.
So if you want support in your war to restore sanity to government there are many "progressives" that are willing to sign on. First, pull your head out of your collectives asses and stop living by stupid "bumper sticker" philosophies being poured down your throats by right-wing nuts from Fox and Drudge type Blogs.
Open your fracking eyes. You fight over crumbs while the cake is being stolen.
Anon 6;31-- you added the part about "STRONG COMMUNITY" where did that come from in from your manifesto ? That's not printed in the scrip in my copy. Look , non of us would want to see any child go hungry. Truth is some people who really need to bridge the hard issues are being wacked by the real users of this system. Fact is locally I can eat free at least 3 places on different days. Cigarettes, booze and crack come before taking care of the baby or babies mother in some cases. You see what I see or a grocery checkout person see's you would agree with Amam 7;27 They must like it! Where is my elitists accuser? At least I like some others will personally help for real cases of distress.
@ 7:57AMhttp://www.caction.org/basicneeds/backup/documents/1999Assessment/basicneeds99whatarebasicneeds.html
This is the link the excerpt is from.
9:27AM
While you might have the urge to use vulgar language I would suggest we avoid that and take a look at what is going on. Allow me to point out that just about every school in the nation is in the process of feeding kids a minimum of one meal with many offering two and three meals per day including through the off months. Let me ask you a question why are we feeding the kids? Primarily they have lazy parents who are professional non-workers. Tell me why we don't tell the parents that they must feed their kids. On top of that one of the outcomes of this kind of program is that people who use to have their own list to donate too do not do that anymore because they cannot afford it due to government programs.
Chris,
First, you are talking out your ass. You have no idea whether these children have lazy parents who are too lazy to feed them, but making that claim will certainly ease your conscience. You have done ZERO research.
Second, let's look at SNAP recipients. Almost half are children. Of the adults receiving benefits, 2/3 are women. Many of them are working. The class of recipients has grown bc of the recession.
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=3239
Third, the GOP House has already passed a farm bill with all kinds of subsidies. You are paying for that by denying food assistance to the working poor. It is heartless and cruel.
Your comments evince nothing less than classism on your part.
Wittten on the Statue of Liberty:
"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door."
The taxpayers can no longer afford this dream.
Bernie:
I enjoy your blog and for the most part (Mezzacappa and Gregory nonsense aside) commend you for performing a local public service. However, I don't think it promotes rational exchanges of ideas to retort that people like Chris (who have opinions at least as valid as your own) are talking out their asses.
Chris may or may not know if the parents are too lazy to feed their children; but neither do you know that they aren't (though "making that claim will certainly soothe YOUR sense" of altruism). I can't say that Chris is entirely wrong because I see it every day in Allentown and Easton: able bodied adults lounging on porches and mothers with cigarettes and 5 kids strolling to the welfare office.
You say that denying food assistance is heartless and cruel. I'll tell you what else is heartless and cruel: having multiple children that you know you can't possibly support and feeling entitled to the fruits of someone else's labors to fulfill your responsibility.
When Chris asserts something he does not know, i.e. that the parents of school kids getting free lunches are too lazy to look for work with absolutely no evidence to back him up, he is talking out his ass. He is promoting a class divide, looking down his nose at people less fortunate than he. Chris promotes himself as an educator, but is posting ignorance. And you are feeding that fire. Because there are abuses, as there are in any program, you would take a meat cleaver to it. That is cruel and heartless and you should be ashamed of yourself.
Spare me your pedantic condescension. Make your arguments, but kindly don't presume to tell me how I "should" feel.
"Asshole"? Ah, the riposte of the inarticulate. "Fucking porch"? Grow up and get a vocabulary, you moron.
"Spare me your pedantic condescension. Make your arguments, but kindly don't presume to tell me how I "should" feel."
I'll stop. The pedantic condescension you decry in me is what I am in fact condemning. It is very evident when someone makes an anecdotal observation to justify the starvation of children.
There was a time when the Republican party stood with and for the working poor. Now you deride them. It's sad.
Bernie, I'm pretty much with you on this one. Lets go to a benchmark, First of all I realize the word 'POVERTY" is relative to a society that is part of an equation. For example I ,we the Cochran's are impoverished in relation to the folks who live in WESTPORT ,Conn. simple as that .HOW MANY BIG SCREENS and Chrysler 300 C s are in the housing authority. I don't have a flat screen yet and I drive a car that is 16 years old.I think they use voodoo economics for calculations.
"Lets go to a benchmark, First of all I realize the word 'POVERTY" is relative to a society that is part of an equation ... I think they use voodoo economics for calculations."
Okay, be honest. Does the previous post make a scintilla of sense to anyone? What the ... ?
Used Chrysler 300's are cheap and plentiful, if that is your thing. So are big screens.
Come on people. We have multo--millionaires, billionares and multo-national cprp's robbing us blind everyday and you go looking for the smallest fish you can find.
They have trained you well young one. And they are laughing at you all the way to the club!
6;31 What is the question? Get to a point . I say the money or the resources that some have are allocated to the wrong Priority. wHAT TO DEBATE THIS , SITE YOUR REASONS , AND EXAMPLES. I am all over this city ,and have connections everyplace . At 61 years old and having been in places with people in 27 countries I can say say no one in EASTON, PENNSYLVANIA should be starving! Go ahead beat me up .
Mr.or Ms. 6;31 Yes I have a trace and feeling about what i SAID, PRIORITY about what someone spends money on is in question with your quarry. The gravity of priority is question. Well I will tell you if your on heavy pubic assistance your boyfriend or main squeeze should not be living in your housing with his LUXURY CAR out front --get it?
Peter:
This is 6:31. I think we're in agreement. I simply didn't understand what you meant. I, too, don't appreciate having my tax dollars confiscated to provide cigarettes and crack to people who prefer to take handouts rather than work.
If your on welfare you should have your total cost checked like when you obtain a mortgage. People in the housing domain should have to sell higher end cars, and drive nothing maybe. You can't get expect to have the tax payers to pay your way when you have put in a 8.2% loan on a car you can't afford because your credit rating id crap. It should not be the tax payers problem, feed your own kid and stop having them you can't afford.
If I would be the Director of Welfare, I would give $3,000 tubular legations and vasectomies over 19 years old and a $ 2,000. bonus if your from a disadvantaged household. CASH IN YOUR HAND $5,000 and not taxes. Like it?
Sound's like Eugenics, Peter.
ok i WOUND GIVE YOU $ 29,999 IF FEMALE AND $15,000 IF MALE PLUS A $5000.oo from a disadvantaged household.
To Chris Miller who said, "Primarily they have lazy parents who are professional non-workers."
I would love for you to say that to an enlisted Marine over in Afghanistan, worrying that his wife and kids back in the States have enough to eat. Watch Gunnery Sergeant Walgren talk about people like you who don't know their ass from a hole in the ground:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxYucS88cxA
For politicians to defend these SNAP cuts because of our need to cut spending in general is un-credible and incredible.
These same politicians are not willing to go to where the real money is: the Pentagon budget, which everyone knows to be the most wasteful in government spending, or the myriad subsidies to corporations, including agribusiness subsides to members of Congress who will be voting to cut SNAP for the poor.
They don't need to go even that far. They could look at the per diems they hand out to themselves and other federal employees, which is in the order of $100 per day. According to their SNAP program, a person can eat on $5 a day, so that is all any Congressman should ever be awarded as a per diem.
And at least I did not suggest a turnstile at the welfare office, too fat no check!Because many are FAT and that means they are eating way too much We need to educate that group . So they don't kill them self's,and their kids. No fat girls a the Northampton County County Club ,Why is that?
How many taxdollar's are spent administrating the spending of taxdollar's?
Per Diem is out of hand , they should be able to pay normal expenses out of the salary because Taxpayers are already fronting the pensions and salary. In New Hampshire for example, the state does not have paid state representatives on salary ,they leave there business ,go to the state house ,vote and return to the venue they work in.
And in Georgia, the legislature is in session only two months out of the year; and the senators are paid $10,000 per year. Why does a state need 12 months every year to legislate what Georgia does in 2? Having a full-time year-round legislature is both unnecessary and wasteful, especially when it's as bloated as Pennsylvania's. It further results in unnecessary laws and over-regulation, as all of these professional leeches continue to try to justify their positions and their salaries.
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