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Old 05-31-2011, 09:38 PM
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Jeanfromfillmore Jeanfromfillmore is offline
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Default Cuts to Food Stamps Program Amid Record Number of Recipients

Well each day brings a new challenge to those with their hand out and pregnant for the sixth time in six years. They cry they came here to "feed their families" that keep growing by one anchor a year, but the free entitlements are starting to run thin. You'll notice how the media still use the "poor and elderly" but what I see here in town is a whole lot of others, besides the elderly; people with big SUV's, the latest cell phones, dressed in fairly new clothes and can't speak one word of English.

Time is getting closer for them to turn on each other. Before the end of this year we'll see some real changes; THE MONEY IS DISAPPEARING. IF THEY PRINT MORE, THE DOLLAR SHRINKS. THIS WILL BE INTERESTING.

State cuts funding for Temporary Assistance for Needy Family grants
New Mexico is one of four states, and the District of Columbia, that cut Temporary Assistance for Needy Family (TANF) block grant money, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The cuts “will carry a heavy human cost,” the policy organization reports.
New Mexico has cut the TANF benefits from $447 per month for a family of three to $380 per month(This is a cash allotment that illegals here in California are entitled to once they have an anchor), or 15 percent. The cuts began on January 1 of this year.
The other states that have cut the funding to aid low-income residents are California, Washington and South Carolina.
According to CBPP, “these cuts will push hundreds of thousands of families and children below — or further below — half of the poverty line.”
The CBPP says the cuts come because of fiscal pressures in the state. The TANF funding does not increase during times of economic hardship — the CBPP says the TANF Contingency Fund, which was supposed to cover this, “has proven severely inadequate” — and has not increased since it was created in 1996.
The CBPP highlighted other cuts made by some states, including New Mexico and Washington’s suspension of programs that provide a transitional benefit to families that leave welfare for low-wage work.
New Mexico to end food stamp supplement
New Mexico will end a food stamp supplement for elderly and disabled residents, according to the Associated Press. The cuts come just as Congress is considering cuts to the food stamp program even as a record-high amount of people are receiving the benefits.
The AP reports that the Human Services Department will stop the supplement on July 1 because there is no money in the state budget for the program. The program cost half a million dollars last fiscal year.
Federal law requires that those who receive food stamps receive at least $16 a month. New Mexico currently provides at least $25 a month for those who qualify for food stamps.
On a federal level, ABC News reported that Congress is considering spending $2 billion less on food stamps than President Barack Obama says in his version of the budget.
A record number of Americans — about 14 percent — now rely on the federal government’s food stamps program and its rapid expansion in recent years has become a politically explosive topic.More than 44.5 million Americans received SNAP benefits in March, an 11 percent increase from one year ago and nearly 61 percent higher than the same time four years ago.
http://newmexicoindependent.com/7025...amp-supplement


Congress Mulls Cuts to Food Stamps Program Amid Record Number of Recipients
ABC News' Huma Khan reports: Congress is under pressure to cut the rapidly rising costs of the federal government’s food stamps program at a time when a record number of Americans are relying on it.
The House Appropriations Committee today will review the fiscal year 2012 appropriations bill for the Department of Agriculture that includes $71 billion for the agency’s “Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.” That’s $2 billion less than what President Obama requested but a 9 percent increase from 2011, which, critics say, is too large given the sizeable budget deficit.
A record number of Americans -- about 14 percent -- now rely on the federal government’s food stamps program and its rapid expansion in recent years has become a politically explosive topic.
More than 44.5 million Americans received SNAP benefits in March, an 11 percent increase from one year ago and nearly 61 percent higher than the same time four years ago.
Nearly 21 million households are reliant on food stamps.
Opponents of the program argue that money from the food stamps budget -- with what they call its increasingly lax requirements -- needs to be shifted to other programs such as education and child nutrition. The program’s supporters argue that at a time of economic decline, such welfare programs are even more important to try to keep Americans from spiraling into poverty.
The cost of the food stamps program has increased rapidly since it was established by Congress in 1964.
It cost taxpayers more than $68 billion last year, double the amount in 2007.
Nutrition assistance now accounts for more than half -- or about 67 percent -- of the USDA’s budget, compared with 26 percent in 1980. That shift in focus, critics say, is ineffective because it hasn’t put a dent in poverty or hunger in the United States while taking away money from other programs, specifically agricultural programs that should be the main focus of the agency.
Even “at a time of prosperity, we have increased the amount of money we are spending for people to buy food,” said Harold Brown, an agriculture scientist and adjunct scholar at the Georgia Public Policy Foundation. “The appropriation of money by Congress has never solved poverty or the resulting problems of poverty. When President Johnson declared war on poverty a half century ago nearly, we thought we saw the end of it as far as food and nutrition goes. For the Department of Agriculture, we only saw the beginning.”
The Republicans’ 2012 budget plan proposes changing SNAP from an entitlement to a block-grant program that would be tailored for each individual state, much like their proposal for Medicaid. States would no longer receive open-ended subsidies and the aid would be contingent on work or job training. It would also limit funding for the program.
The president’s 2012 budget, however, goes in a completely opposite direction. It aims to make requirements less stringent by temporarily suspending for one year the time limit for certain age groups without dependents. The president also suggested restoring benefit cuts that were included in the Child Nutrition Reauthorization bill last year.
UPDATE: Democrats are aggressively pushing back at the cuts that they argue constitute an attack on the poor.
"It is absolutely necessary to take a long hard look at government spending to avoid wasting any taxpayers’ dollars, but time and time again, Republicans wrongfully make their cuts on the backs of poor and working class Americans," Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., a senior member of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, said in a statement this afternoon.

Last edited by Jeanfromfillmore; 05-31-2011 at 09:42 PM.
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Old 06-01-2011, 01:27 PM
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Jeanfromfillmore Jeanfromfillmore is offline
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Gov. Scott Signs Welfare Drug Testing Into Law
TALLAHASSEE (CBS4) – Expect challenges to a bill signed by Governor Rick Scott which will require welfare applicants to undergo drug testing.
The bill also requires that those who apply for welfare must pay for the drug testing out of their own pockets. However, the cost would be reimbursed if the person passes the drug test.
Republicans said the measure was needed because if taxpayers are screened at their place of employment, so should welfare recipients. The drug testing bill was a priority for Scott.
“While there are certainly legitimate needs for public assistance, it is unfair for Florida taxpayers to subsidize drug addiction,” Governor Scott said. “This new law will encourage personal accountability and will help to prevent the misuse of tax dollars.”
A similar law which passed in Michigan in 1999 which required random drug testing of Welfare recipients lasted five weeks before it was stopped by a judge. An appeals court ruled it unconstitutional after a four-year legal battle.
On Tuesday, Scott also signed into law another measure that bans the designer drug MDPV or “bath salts.”
Poison control centers in Florida have reported 61 calls of “bath salts” abuse, making Florida the state with the second-highest volume of calls. The hallucinogenic substances are readily available at convenience stores, discount tobacco outlets, gas stations, pawnshops, tattoo parlors, and truck stops, among other locations.
http://miami.cbslocal.com/2011/05/31...ting-into-law/
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Old 06-02-2011, 08:36 AM
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Jeanfromfillmore Jeanfromfillmore is offline
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Originally Posted by Jeanfromfillmore View Post
Gov. Scott Signs Welfare Drug Testing Into Law
TALLAHASSEE (CBS4) – Expect challenges to a bill signed by Governor Rick Scott which will require welfare applicants to undergo drug testing.
The bill also requires that those who apply for welfare must pay for the drug testing out of their own pockets. However, the cost would be reimbursed if the person passes the drug test.
Republicans said the measure was needed because if taxpayers are screened at their place of employment, so should welfare recipients. The drug testing bill was a priority for Scott.
“While there are certainly legitimate needs for public assistance, it is unfair for Florida taxpayers to subsidize drug addiction,” Governor Scott said. “This new law will encourage personal accountability and will help to prevent the misuse of tax dollars.”
A similar law which passed in Michigan in 1999 which required random drug testing of Welfare recipients lasted five weeks before it was stopped by a judge. An appeals court ruled it unconstitutional after a four-year legal battle.
On Tuesday, Scott also signed into law another measure that bans the designer drug MDPV or “bath salts.”
Poison control centers in Florida have reported 61 calls of “bath salts” abuse, making Florida the state with the second-highest volume of calls. The hallucinogenic substances are readily available at convenience stores, discount tobacco outlets, gas stations, pawnshops, tattoo parlors, and truck stops, among other locations.
http://miami.cbslocal.com/2011/05/31...ting-into-law/
The ACLU of Florida filed a lawsuit seeking to halt Gov. Rick Scott’s executive order mandating drug testing for state employees.
TALLAHASSEE -- Requiring job applicants to "pee in a cup" to test for drugs and randomly selecting current public employees to do the same is unconstitutional, attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union said Wednesday after filing a federal lawsuit to stop the practice ordered by Gov. Rick Scott.
In what is expected to be a series of lawsuits on recently passed legislation and gubernatorial edicts, the ACLU called on a federal judge in Miami to immediately suspend an executive order signed by Scott in March that requires all agencies to set up random drug testing protocols for existing workers and require new hires to submit to drug tests as a condition of their employment.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/06/0...ghts-drug-test...
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Old 06-02-2011, 12:59 PM
Twoller Twoller is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeanfromfillmore View Post
Gov. Scott Signs Welfare Drug Testing Into Law
TALLAHASSEE (CBS4) – Expect challenges to a bill signed by Governor Rick

Scott which will require welfare applicants to undergo drug testing.
The bill also requires that those who apply for welfare must pay for the drug testing out of their own pockets. However, the cost would be reimbursed if the person passes the drug test.

Republicans said the measure was needed because if taxpayers are screened at their place of employment, so should welfare recipients. The drug testing bill was a priority for Scott.

“While there are certainly legitimate needs for public assistance, it is unfair for Florida taxpayers to subsidize drug addiction,” Governor Scott said. “This new law will encourage personal accountability and will help to prevent the misuse of tax dollars.”

A similar law which passed in Michigan in 1999 which required random drug testing of Welfare recipients lasted five weeks before it was stopped by a judge. An appeals court ruled it unconstitutional after a four-year legal battle.
On Tuesday, Scott also signed into law another measure that bans the designer drug MDPV or “bath salts.”

Poison control centers in Florida have reported 61 calls of “bath salts” abuse, making Florida the state with the second-highest volume of calls. The hallucinogenic substances are readily available at convenience stores, discount tobacco outlets, gas stations, pawnshops, tattoo parlors, and truck stops, among other locations.

http://miami.cbslocal.com/2011/05/31...ting-into-law/
This doesn't even make any sense. What about alcohol? Nobody is policing welfare recipients for use of alcohol? Why not? Alcohol is not a problem for those who need welfare? What about tobacco? If you can afford to smoke a pack a day, you don't need welfare assistance. And if you want to police against the use of alcohol and tobacco among welfare recipients, how are you going to do it?

It's not just a bad idea, but it's really brainless too. It is pointless to police against bad behavior among welfare recipients. It's hard enough making sure they don't actually need welfare.

And of course nobody who is not a US citizen should be getting any government benefits at all. There's a sensible place to start cutting welfare recipients.
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Old 06-12-2011, 11:11 AM
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Jeanfromfillmore Jeanfromfillmore is offline
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More than 44 million Americans — 14 percent of the population — now rely on the federal government’s food stamps program, an all-time high.
The number of recipients is up 11 percent from one year ago and more than 60 percent from just four years ago.
Nearly 21 million households are now reliant on the Department of Agriculture’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
The program cost taxpayers over $68 billion last year, twice as much as in 2007, and accounts for 67 percent of the USDA’s total budget, compared to 26 percent in 1980.
The 2012 appropriations bill includes $71 billion for food stamps, a 9 percent increase from 2011 but $2 billion less than what President Obama requested.
Critics complain that SNAP hasn’t put a dent in poverty or hunger while taking away funds from other efforts that should be the main focus of the USDA, specifically agricultural programs, according to ABC News.
The food stamp program is also vulnerable to abuse. A Menominee, Mich., man was arrested recently and charged with food stamp trafficking. He allegedly used a food stamps card to buy $141 worth of lobster, steak and soft drinks and resold the items for 50 cents on the dollar.
The Republicans’ 2012 budget plan seeks to change SNAP from an entitlement to a block-grant program that would be tailored for each state. The proposal would make aid contingent on work or job training and limit funding for the program.
You can see how the Government is using the "block-grant" program to pick and choose which states get sweet little gifts. You can bet they're Democrat saturated states with plenty of illegals. These grants don't give off the smell of corruption because they're often hidden and distributed through nonprofits.
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Old 11-05-2011, 12:36 PM
Merrilee Merrilee is offline
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Very interesting article. Thanks.
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Old 11-16-2011, 08:49 AM
nativesmith nativesmith is offline
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People are going to have to realize that the government is no longer going to provide for your children. The sad fact is that if you can’t afford to raise children on your own, you shouldn’t be having them.
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