Democrats Reluctantly Aim to Trade Food Stamps for Nutrition
The first lady's initiative to bring nutrition to the bodies of America's school children does come at a price. Right now, that price is around $8 billion. The bill is set to go before the House when they come back from Summer recess - imagine a bunch of Senators running around the playground, pushing each other on the swings and trying to look up Pelosi's skirt on the ladder. Ok, don't imagine that last part.
In order to bring this nutrition program to fruition, the Dems are reluctantly considering carving out some of the $8 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the food stamp program. This is on top of an already passed reduction in the program, a 13.6 percent drop wrapped up in the $26 billion Medicaid and education bill that Obama signed last week.
This wouldn't take effect until 2013, the cut in the food stamp program, and would basically eliminate the increased benefits that were added on last year. The bill would also cut funding for nutrition-education programs aimed at low-income areas. Not all Democrats are feeling it, and don't believe that one such government assistance program should be cut in favor of another.
“This is one of the more egregious cases of robbing Peter to pay Paul, and is a vote we do not take lightly,” said Democratic lawmakers.
That might be one way to look at it, but the other way to look at is that perhaps the lawmakers in the states will take this opportunity to take a closer look at who is getting food stamps. Right now, like many government programs there is rampant abuse by people who don't necessarily need the help of the programs. People who continue to have kids just for the sake of government assistance.
Democrats are hopeful that they will be able to avoid future cuts in similar programs, though it seems as of now that hope for such an outcome is slim at best. With healthcare spending clearly on the rise for new programs, it's only logical that the old ones begin to fade into the sunset.
Michelle Obama is going to get her program pushed through no matter the cost. That's for certain. Whether the Democrats can find a way to support it without cutting too much from another government program is another issue altogether.
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