Oh, SNAP! The GOP war on the poor returns next week in the House

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

"House Republicans are in disarray, unable to govern as a
result of division and dysfunction" over the best way to take America hostage for their batshit crazy plan to defund "ObamaCare" by threatening a government shutdown and/or breaching the federal debt ceiling, causing a global economic crisis. They hope to get their act together on their hostage demands by next week.

Also next week, the GOP war on the poor will resume when the House takes up the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) aka food stamps appropriation bill that it bifurcated from the farm bill back in July. Huffington Post reports, Food Stamp Cuts To Get House Vote In Syria's Shadow:

While the House and Senate hold hearings on authorizing military force [in Syria], a
bill that would cut food stamps is headed to the House floor next week
with relatively little fanfare.

"There are 50 million people in the United States of America who are
hungry, 17 million are kids," Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) said in an
interview. "It is something we all should be ashamed of, and the United
States House of Representatives is about to make that worse. This is a
big deal and my hope is that we'll treat it as such and not just let it
go by without a lot of discussion and debate because we're all focused
on Syria."

Last week the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported
that the rate of "food insecurity" in American households remained
constant from 2011 to 2012, with 15 percent of the population struggling
to afford food at some point during the year. That's 47 million people,
roughly the same amount as are enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps. Research shows that
enrollment trends track economic conditions.

Next week the House will vote on legislation to cut SNAP by roughly 5
percent. The bill is bypassing the House Agriculture Committee, which
oversees food stamps, because it is a priority of House Majority Leader
Eric Cantor (R-Va.).

"There's not been a single hearing on food stamps at all. Not one,"
said McGovern, one of the panel's most outspoken opponents of cutting
nutrition assistance. (The previous Congress, which wrapped up last
year, held several hearings on nutrition legislation, though McGovern
notes that the Agriculture Committee's membership has since changed.) "I
hope through all this Syria stuff, that we're able to shed a bit of
light on this, because I think most Americans, if they realize what's
going on, would be outraged."

* * *

Despite the lack of hearings this year, many lawmakers will be at least
somewhat familiar with the forthcoming food stamp legislation because it
builds on the same provisions on which the House voted earlier this
year, including one that would allow states to deny benefits to some unemployed SNAP applicants if they don't find jobs or enroll in training.

* * *

In June, the House rejected a farm bill that would have partially
reformed agriculture subsidies while cutting nutrition spending by more
than $20 billion over 10 years. The bill failed,
essentially because the cuts were too modest for Republicans but too
harsh for Democrats. Republicans then passed a farm subsidies bill
without Democratic support and are poised to pass a nutrition bill that
will cut SNAP spending by $40 billion over 10 years. Cantor has taken
control of the legislation from Agriculture Committee Chairman Rep.
Frank Lucas (R-Okla.), who had sought to build bipartisan support for
his version of the farm bill.

Another part of the new legislation would disallow states from
granting exemptions to SNAP's work requirements for able-bodied adults
without children, something most states currently do because so few jobs
are available.

* * *

"Republicans are introducing $40 billion in cuts to SNAP, our
nation's most effective anti-hunger program, and they're hoping that our
attention is split and Congress is focusing only on Syria," Rep.
Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), co-chair of the congressional Out of Poverty
Caucus, said in an email. "We can and must also be working to come
together and defeat this serious threat to our nation's most
vulnerable."

Any bill passed by the House will have to be reconciled with the
Senate's farm bill, which cut SNAP by a relatively modest $4 billion
over 10 years. Regardless of the legislative outcome, the average family
of four enrolled in SNAP will see its monthly benefit decline by $36
in November, thanks to the expiration of a boost to benefits from the
2009 stimulus bill, as there is little support for legislation to avert
the upcoming drop.

What makes this truly insane: the House cuts won't become law because the Senate will not pass them and President Obama will not sign them. This is yet another futile Tea-Publican "feel good" exercise in hating the working poor and their children.