The numbers are stark. In 1992, about 25 million Americans
took part in the program. By 2000, thanks to an unusually strong
economy and overly rigid restrictions on qualifying, the number had
fallen to 17 million. But since then, they have been going straight up. As of April, 46 million Americans, more than one in seven, were receiving assistance. Its annual cost meanwhile has risen from $17 billion in 2000 to $78 billion as of last year.
The
value of the program is not in doubt. People in need obviously should
not be left without food. But numbers like these erode people's faith in
the fairness of government anti-poverty programs. These numbers are not
driven by a rise in hunger. Indeed they have come about at a time when
Americans — particularly those on the lower-income rungs — are
struggling with obesity.
Rather the growth in
SNAP, as the program providing food assistance is called, is being
driven by politics as usual. Rural and urban lawmakers form an odd
alliance to scratch each other's back. The rural representatives support
expanding SNAP in return for getting the latter's support on farm
subsidies. And vice versa.
Eligibility for SNAP was expanded in a 2002 farm bill
that also included a massive increase in farm subsidies. That measure
passed with the support of then-President George W. Bush, whose main
focus at the time was on winning congressional support for the war on
terror and an invasion of Iraq, then under consideration.
No comments:
Post a Comment