GOP May Be About To Fold In Protracted Food Stamp Fight

[DonViejo]

DYLAN SCOTT – NOVEMBER 22, 2013, 6:00 AM EST

Just a couple months ago, House Republicans passed historic cuts to food stamps, nearly $40 billion worth. But now, a short time after that ideological stand, the GOP could be preparing to relent in its effort to extract such significant reductions in the program's funding and agree to far less austere cuts, even if it means having to rely on Democratic votes to get it passed.

The possible about-face comes as the two chambers are negotiating over a farm bill that would include funding for the food stamp program. The Senate already passed a farm bill with modest cuts to food stamps. Conference committee negotiations to reconcile the two competing bills have been ongoing since last month.

The perception on Capitol Hill is that House leadership would like to put the farm bill behind it and is even willing to pass a bill with a significant number of Democrats.

The farm bill has been a source of serious embarrassment for the leadership this year. It was the hardline conservative opposition to $20 billion in food stamps cuts that forced House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) to pull the bill from the House floor at the last minute in June and come back in September with a bill that nearly doubled those cuts. That bill passed with the minimum number of votes as some moderate Republicans abandoned it.

full article
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/farm-bill-food-stamp-cuts-conference-bill

[Laelth]

1. Interesting. k&r for exposure. n/t

-Laelth

[BlueToTheBone]

2. Why should there be any cuts to food stamps at all?

When 1/3 of our population has "food insecurity" or is starving, there should be an increase in food assistance.

[moxybug]

4. Yours should always be the take away from articles like this.

Democrats who offer modest cuts to food stamps while record numbers of citizens starve. But sadly too many will see this as a great victory for our side - cue the parades.

It simply leaves me disgusted at the state of politics in America today, and I can only hope soon the tide will turn violently in the other direction.

[BlueToTheBone]

5. Welcome to DU

I hope you are wrong about violence. Violence only begets violence. We've tried that many times before and as Einstein noted, doing the same thing over and over again hoping/expecting a different result is a definition of insanity.

Let's try something new.

[yeoman6987]

6. Food stamps

There really was not a cut. They lost the extra money they were getting from stimulus. My friend lost 10 bucks a month. This is about the same as Republicans complaining about ACA. We need not over exaggerate or it will bite us in 2014.

[TheKentuckian]

11. 10 bucks is critical for the food insecure, this is also about further reductions.

What will bite us in the ass is not taking care of the people, not just being less bad than the fascist opposition.

[CTyankee]

9. ABSOLUTELY! It is immoral NOT to increase food stamp availability and to expand it...

In what universe does withholding food from people who are hungry make sense?

[djean111]

3. Politics as usual - it is now considered a Democrat "victory" if food stamps

are not cut as much as the GOP initially wanted - but there are still "modest cuts".
Why not amend the bill to INCREASE food stamps, and fight from that ground. The GOP wins incrementally. Been their plan for years. Works.

[Myrina]

7. Isn't that maddening?

Sorta off topic - Warren and Sanders IMHO have openly discussed (and may have proposed) legislation to increase Social Security payments in the last couple of weeks ... maybe if they get any traction on that, they will also toss in a bump to SNAP and extending unemployment benefits. Goddess knows people need help.

[libdem4life]

8. Even more so, one is a Newbie and the other an Independent. The operative term appears to be

"openly discussed".

Maybe one of them will ask Harry Reid if they (or some other Blue State Democrat) could give a 21 hour, fully televised, rebuttal time speech. Maybe with 3 or 4 others.

Subjects? The American People and their social covenant duty to protect the elderly and hungry...just for starters.

[Wounded Bear]

10. Emphasis matters....

They write LESS AUSTERE cuts.

I read less austere CUTS.

No matter how austere or 'less austere,' cuts are cuts.

More crazy spin. How about an increase!!!