Tag Archives: Simplified Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP)

The Consequences Of Good Policy Decisions

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On Monday, The Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC) posted an article on their news website about the decline in the number of Americans collecting food stamps. Contrary to the panic on the political left when they hear about people less dependent on government handouts, that is good news.

The article reports:

To most Americans, a significant drop in the number of people on food stamps is a positive development. But to the left-wing outrage mob, it’s cause for all-out panic and one of the most absurd fits of anti-Trump hysteria to date.

According to recent government data, as of July 1, approximately 4.5 million fewer people are enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) compared to the same time last year – a reduction of about 11 percent. Still, the nearly 42 million people enrolled in SNAP is much higher than the 35 million on the dole in 2019.

To hear liberals tell it, there is only one explanation for this shift: the Trump administration is purposely and heartlessly stripping needy Americans of their benefits and starving people to death.

The article explains the dropping numbers:

First, there are now stronger protections to ensure that illegal aliens and other ineligible non-citizens do not abuse the program. Trump and congressional Republicans rightly recognized that it is wrong to require American citizens to fork over their hard-earned tax dollars to pay for food for individuals who are either here illegally or came to the United States through legal channels but cannot provide for themselves.

Second, the OBBB implemented a new mandate requiring SNAP recipients aged 18 to 64 to either work at least 80 hours per month or participate in a job training program. In addition to gainful employment, recipients can fulfill their work requirement by volunteering at their local library, cleaning up the parks, or doing any number of other worthy civic activities.

The article concludes:

To the leftist mind warped by victim propaganda, fewer people on food stamps is a crisis. To everyone else, fewer Americans dependent on government handouts sounds a lot more like progress.

Getting the fraud out of government programs and making sure that the people who access them are eligible is a concrete step toward dealing with our national debt.

Why The Seventeenth Amendment Matters

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President Woodrow Wilson did a number of things that reformatted the plan for America our Founding Fathers designed. He signed into law a personal income tax, the federal reserve, and the direct election of Senators (the Seventeen Amendment).

The Seventeen Amendment states:

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures.

When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.

This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution.[2]

Before the Seventeenth Amendment, Senators were chosen by the state legislators and subject to recall if they did not represent the interests of the state. Without the Seventeenth Amendment, Senator Manchin of West Virginia would not have voted for the Inflation Reduction Act. Senator Manchin did not originally vote for the Inflation Reduction Act because he understood that the green energy provisions in the bill would be harmful to the economy of West Virginia. During the negotiations regarding the bill, promises were made that would slightly lessen the impact on West Virginia (the Democrats eventually reneged on those promises). Had the Senator been subject to recall, he would never have voted on the bill.

As I write this, the government shutdown is continuing. Simplified Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits will be ending on November 1. Do you really believe that Senators who were subject to recall by their state legislators would continue to vote to keep the government shutdown and would have the support of their state legislators in doing so?

I don’t know who will eventually be blamed for the prolonged government shutdown. I do know that it is hurting Americans and that those voting to keep the government shut down do not seem to care for the welfare of their voters. Those are the people who should be voted out of office in the midterms.