As More Americans Go Hungry, the Feds Justify Cutting Food Stamps

From David Sirota:

If ever there was an example of how the Bush administration robs Peter to pay Paul, this is it.

Hard-right political hacks at the Department of Health and Human Services are actually sending out a fact sheet to Capitol Hill and the public about the new Medicare bill that justifies eliminating food stamp benefits to Medicare recipients. This is radical conservatism, without even a hint of compassion.Specifically, page 2 of the fact sheet asks a hypothetical question that Medicare recipients might ask: "Will I lose my food stamp benefits if I apply and qualify for extra help paying for the new Medicare prescription drug coverage?"

The Bush adminstration's answer: "With the Medicare prescription drug coverage, you may see your food stamp benefits go down" and even possibly eliminated. How could they be so heartless to do that? Because they say, "you spend less on drugs" and "the extra cash you will have to spend on food makes up for not getting as much in food stamps." Download the fact sheet sent out by HHS at my website and see this travesty for yourself.In other words, for the poorest of the poor, the new Medicare "benefits" aren't necessarily an overall benefit, because the Bush administration openly admits they are taking that benefit out of poor people's ability to put food on their table. This comes on top of Bush's earlier proposal to gut food stamp funding. How disgusting.

David says it well, disgusting.

Probably like many of you, I've never been on any form of public assistance. In the days when I earned practically nothing (and trust me, being a writer isn't exactly the road to wealth and glory), I probably qualified for aid but... man, the idea did not appeal to me.

But I think many of us have really liked to know that there was a program out there, not just for us should the circumstances get so grave, but to know that kids and others were able to get a meal. One of the few things I really don't mind seeing my tax dollars go to are programs that educate kids, feed and provide essential medical care and shelter for the very poor.

Even Ronald Reagan could not have conceived of the gutting of basic human services that George - who says he can't understand poor people - has accomplished at the same time he's made the richest Americans so much richer.

Let's face it: if we lived in a meritocracy, George Bush would starve to death because he's never done anything right, never done anything to justify his existence. Thankfully - for him - we don't.