Oh please.....defunds nothing. Simply separates food stamps from the farm bill to be on its own.
Originally Posted by Chica Chaser
Which is exactly as it should be!
See more @
http://www.eccie.net/showthread.php?t=769513&highlight=
(Note particularly post #13.)
I think this is an important discussion since it points up a prime example of congressional logrolling at its worst. For the last few decades, urban liberals have forged political alliances with farm state conservatives, so
both parties have colluded in efforts to pork up the budget beyond all reason. Some of the worst abuses occurred during the 2002-2007 period, when SNAP eligibility was dramatically expanded -- and this happened
before the financial crisis and subsequent severe recession. Messrs. Rove and DeLay (and a lot of their buddies) agreed to pass out a lot of goodies to urban progressives in return for having a free hand to dump tones of federal cash into the farm states (mostly "red" states).
Thus wrapping up farm support programs and food stamps in one bill acts as an enabling agent for big spenders on both sides of the aisle.
In my opinion, each program should stand on its own merits and should not be expanded beyond the level consistent with support that can be rallied by its congressional champions.