Thursday, February 11, 2010

Food Stamps Find New Acceptance


In recent years the government has been trying to enroll more and more people in the Food Stamps program. Up through the late 1990's the Food Stamp program faced many cuts, as it was seen as part of the welfare system. The notion that Food Stamps would make the poor dependent was propagated amongst conservative circles and many people, who actually needed the aid, were turned away. After 1999, and especially during the Bush administration (woah! I'm going to say something nice of the Bush administration??), the government did well in promoting the Food Stamp program as not being welfare and removing red-tape preventing people from accessing it. The Food Stamp Program is not welfare and does not create a dependent population, since most of those receiving benefits are already part of the working class. Many of these people see this aid as a necessary subsidy to augment their incomes which are already below the federal poverty line. The Food Stamp program has become an important safety net for many, especially in these precarious economic times.