OPINION — Recently we have been hearing sound bites from some conservative politicians about how lazy crackheads are using SNAP benefits, formerly known as food stamps.
We are being lied to about who receives these benefits. There are 42.5 million Americans, or 22.7 million households, in the SNAP program, including 4 out of 5 households with children, elderly or the disabled.
Fact: 38% of recipients are already working. The rest are elderly or disabled.
A normal person could agree that when you have 42 million people using a program there could be a percentage who take advantage. Let me point out when we give billions away in farm subsidies, we don’t ask about eligibility or if people using farm aid funds to buy alcohol or tobacco products.
Politicians are not telling you that people who work for Walmart, Mc Donald’s, Amazon and dollar stores make up the largest percentage of working Americans who use SNAP. These big companies make billions in profit as taxpayers foot the bill for food and medical assistance to their employees.
Walmart, for example, pays lower wages and its employees who use SNAP shop there for food because that’s where the best prices are. So, Walmart makes a profit on every SNAP dollar spent in it stores, paid for by us.
Another false GOP claim is that illegals receive Social Security benefits. What they aren’t telling you is when an illegal uses a fake or dead person’s SS number, those taxes are collected by both the individual and the employer. Those people will never be able to use SS as they lack sufficient identification allowing them to claim benefits.
If someone wants news that’s accurate, turn off the boob tube and start reading, and don’t be so lazy when they could be looking for factual information.
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