On cutting Food Stamps....

[davepc]

First, lets look at the alleged problem:

Twenty thousand people who live in the metro New Orleans area were eligible for food stamps in 1999 but never claimed the benefit, leaving more than $30 million worth of the stamps on the table, a study has found.

But the region still ranked third in the country in terms of the percentage of those taking advantage of the help.

Each year, billions of dollars in food stamps go unclaimed by the working poor and the places they call home, according to the Brookings Institution, a nonpartisan independent think tank in Washington.

The study found that, nationally, half of those eligible for food stamps in 1999 received them. That year, 9.8 million people in 97 cities lived in households that received a total $9.1 billion in food stamps.

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/metro/index.ssf?/base/news-9/1116397716189440.xml

State losing billions in unclaimed
stamps

Counties across New York State are missing out on millions of dollars in federal funds because of low participation in the Food Stamp Program, researchers from the Nutrition Consortium of New York State found last week.

The report, titled “don’t lose out! Make your county stronger with the Federal Food Stamp Program,” found that New York State, a national leader in food stamp participation, still loses $1.5 billion a year in unclaimed federal food stamp revenues. Each county outside New York City loses an average of $7.8 million a year, while the annual loss to New York City is just over $1 billion.

http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:q8Ua5KjbDhoJ:www.scaany.org/press/documents/foodstamps_gazette_000.pdf+unclaimed+food+stamps&hl=en


Apparently lots of food stamps are going unclaimed. States and the Federal Government are losing money on unclaimed food stamps. Inefficiency in the food stamp program vis a vis distribution to eligible people is a problem. It costs taxpayers money that is basically going into a black hole and not helping anyone.

Now, according to the GAO, the food stamp program is efficient in terms of eliminating fraud and abuse.

Dateline: May 2005

A report released by the General Accounting Office (GAO) shows that efficiency in management of the federal Food Stamp program has reached its best level in history, and that continued improvements are expected when new data is released by USDA. In addition, the GAO report showed a significant reduction in the number of ineligible families receiving food stamps.

The report would seem to contradict recent criticism claiming high rates of “fraud, waste, and abuse” in the Food Stamp Program.

Among the findings of the GAO report were the following:

The rate of non-qualified food stamp recipients being granted benefits due to either administrative error or applicant fraud has declined by almost one-third over the past five years from 9.86 percent in 1999 to a record low of 6.63 percent in 2003.
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98 percent of households receiving food stamps were eligible for the program.

http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/healthcare/a/foodstampgao.htm

So if almost everybody who's getting food stamps is eligible, but there are millions of dollars worth of food stamps going unclaimed...shouldent there be something done to fix the discrepancy?

Republicans look at this data and the solution to them is easy. If you have X numbers of food stamps, and you're only distributing Y number of stamps then cut the difference between X and Y.

It's a typical Republican response to the problem.

Democrats then get angry and pledge that Republicans can cut food stamps over their dead bodies. Thats fine, but such a pledge isn't in of itself a solution to the problem (food stamp 'demand' being below food stamp supply).

Democrats need a comprehensive plan to fix the problem that doesn't necessarily rely on cuts, but makes attempts to get more food stamps to people who are eligible.

Now some people wont go on food stamps no matter how bad off they are, for whatever reason. Some people feel they get better serviced by local charities. Other people might not know about the program, or know about it and believe they are ineligible. Some people might find the processes of getting on food stamps too difficult for whatever reason (the forms aren't in their native language, government offices that process the applications are ill equipped to deal with individuals problems in applying...whatever the case may be)

The trick is for Democrats to fight against the cuts by insisting on increasing efficiency in the stamp distribution, not simply reacting negatively to cuts.

It's not enough to say OVER MY DEAD BODY, we need to say to the American people that we believe a problem exists (or if we don't believe a problem exists, say why). Then we need to outline our perception of what the problem is.

Republican perception of the problem: We offer more food stamps then people bother to use.

Democratic perception of the problem: Gross inefficiency in the distribution of food stamps prevents people who need/deserve them from getting them.

Then we need to outline a reasonable attempts to FIX IT.

The important part in undercutting the Republican response to this issue is the fact that the food stamp program is amazingly efficient in eliminating waste, fraud and abuse of the system. The overwhelming majority of people who get food stamps legitimately are eligible for them, and are not people who are 'gaming' the system or taking advantage of it.

Once we make the case that the system is not broken, and that it works, its a lot easier to fight for the program based on its own merits.

If Republicans are able to make the case that the system is rife with corruption then their response to eliminating or cutting it will carry that much more weight with voters.

The Republican answer is taking an axe to the food stamp program.
The Democratic response should be to give the program an oil change and a tune up.

We can't be back on our heels fighting cuts alone, we must offer compelling solutions that make the programs better then they are. If they work, make them more efficient.

Efficiency in government is a Democratic value.

If you want a Republicans idea of efficiency in government, go visit New Orleans.


edit:formatting

[elehhhhna]

1. What are the qualifications to recieve food stamps (& WIC) ?

I'll bet there's a repub-generated administrative gag order on divulging this info @ the "point of service".

[zalinda]

2. There is a reason that many don't claim

food stamps. When you apply, they don't just check out where you work, they INFORM your employer that you are applying for food stamps. I was humiliated enough just applying for them, but when I found out that a guy who I did some part time work for was going to find out that I was getting food stamps, I lost it. I started crying and couldn't stop. They make the experience as humiliating as possible. I walked out of there and learned how to live on ramen noodles. If it hadn't been for having to take care of my son, I would have gone in and blown up the place, I was so angry. They treat you like dirt, and can't understand why someone would be upset to be treated so poorly. Somehow we made it through, but the experience was so awful, I still get upset about it today, and this was 15 years ago.

zalinda

[davepc]

3. That's exactly the type of thing we need to address.

We have to make the process more efficient, and part of that is lowering barriers of entry to qualified applicants.

Republicans just want to eliminate the entire program, or make it so small as to be useless.

But having an inefficient program is just as bad as having an inadequate one.

[CornField]

4. The paper work is also quite intimidating

At least it was when I had to use food stamps 12 years ago. There was a pile of paperwork that had to be filled out.

First, you had to wait in line to get the paperwork. Then you had to take it home and fill it out. Then you had to come back and wait in line again so that a worker could sit and go through the paperwork with you. Just when you thought the process might be complete, the worker would undoubtedly hand you yet more paperwork.

They needed copies of everything from Social Security cards to birth certificates to driver's licenses to student identification cards.

It was just a very long and drawn out process. If I had not be in dire straights at the time, I doubt I would have followed through.