2 Success Stories That Undermine Right-Wing Media's Food Stamp Delusion
Recent profiles of successful individuals illustrate how the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) -- formerly known as "food stamps" -- helps disadvantaged people achieve success, delivering a blow to common right-wing narratives about the program cultivating laziness among recipients.
On February 19, social networking giant Facebook purchased WhatsApp -- a messaging application for smartphones -- for $19 billion. The move made WhatsApp Inc. co-founder Jan Koum a billionaire overnight, with a projected net worth of $6.8 billion.
Multiple news outlets noted that Koum's success was a "rags-to-riches" story, and highlighted the fact that as a child, his family received food stamps. From Business Insider:
http://www.businessinsider.com/whatsapp-jan-koum-lived-on-food-stamps-2014-2
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Koum is not the only prominent person making headlines who has relied on SNAP at some point in their life. On the February 17 edition of MSNBC's NOW, host Alex Wagner profiled Olympic speed skater Emily Scott. In June 2013, Scott, who had been working at a medical supply company while training 8 hours per day in preparation for Sochi, was forced to apply for food stamps when her monthly Olympic stipend was cut to just $600. As Wagner noted, Scott is the second ranked American speed skater and will compete in the speed skating quarterfinals on February 21.
http://mediamatters.org/blog/2014/02/20/2-success-stories-that-undermine-right-wing-med/198157
13 Famous People Who Once Got Food Stamps
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/20/food-stamps-celebrities_n_4824405.html
