Food Stamp Controversy

Is President Obama, as Newt Gingrich claims, the biggest “food stamp president” of all time? You be the judge . . . There are now about 46 million people on food stamps. That compares to 29 million in 2009, at the beginning of Obama’s term, and 17 million in 2001, at the beginning of George W. Bush’s term. The economic recession of 2007-2009 caused a doubling of our unemployment rate. That undoubtedly led to an increase in applications for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, which is what Food Stamps are now called.

The Food Stamp Program (FSP) is an example of how our attempts to help people sometimes backfire. The first FSP (from 1939 to1943) helped 20 million people at a cost of $262 million. A similar program was started by John F. Kennedy in 1961. The “Food Stamp Act” of 1964 established (by President Lyndon B. Johnson) the FSP as a permanent anti-poverty program. The program cost $75 million in its first year of existence, and it provided food stamps to about one million people. It was estimated at the time that this program would expand to a maximum of $360 million per year. That estimate is far less than the $73 billion that it cost to run the program in 2011.

The FSP has seen many ups and downs over the years. It was expanded in 1985, 1993, 2002 and 2008. Attempts were made to curtail it in the early 1970s, the early 1980s, and again in the late 1990s. The cost of running the program is now 5% of our Gross National Product. Many people are concerned that it is now too easy to get on food stamps, and also too easy to stay on these benefits indefinitely.

Newt Gingrich is an outspoken critic of President Barack Obama. He says that Obama has created a country where people would rather collect food stamps (and other government benefits) than get a job. The Wall Street Journal, for example, recently reported that half of all Americans are now living in a household that is receiving government benefits. Gingrich wants to put an end to this “entitlement” society. He promises that if he is elected then anyone who wants will be able to trade in their food stamp check for a job paycheck.

Newt Gingrich was in the U.S. House of Representatives for 22 years. He was Speaker of the House from 1995-1999. During his tenure as Speaker, he was a co-author and architect of the “Contract with America” program. He helped pass legislation that reformed welfare, cut taxes, and balanced the budget. Time magazine named him the “Man of the Year” In 1995.

Gingrich is now running for the presidency. His campaign has been on a roller coaster ride. He surged in the polls before the Iowa Caucus. He was then subjected to a barrage of negative TV commercials, and did poorly in the Iowa and New Hampshire elections. His campaign was thought to be dead in the water. Last week, however, he won the South Carolina Primary. He did this by having two terrific debate performances, and by contrasting his conservatism to Mitt Romney’s tendency to “flip flop” on the issues. Gingrich also effectively attacked the liberal media and Obama’s failed presidential policies.

Many people think Gingrich is the smartest man running for presidency. He also knows how to use “catch phrases” to differentiate himself from the other candidates. Calling Obama the “food stamp president” is one slogan that seems to have caught on, so don’t be surprised if you hear it a million more times. Like many things in politics, there is a bit of truth to this label – along with a bit of deception. This is politics, after all, and we should prepare ourselves for nine more months of verbal warfare.