Letter to the Editor: SNAP Out of It!

Food with receipt. Undated | Photo courtesy Pixabay, St. George News

OPINION — I cannot believe it has to be said: Cutting the food stamp program known as Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, or SNAP, by 30 percent is a terrible idea. Instead we should be increasing benefits for poor children and their families so they can eat.

A recent study found that in 99 percent of counties across the US (including all 29 counties in Utah) SNAP’s maximum per-a-meal benefit is less than the average cost of meals low-income households purchase. In fact, that benefit is on average 30 percent too low — and the President’s budget would double that gap. Currently, the maximum per-meal benefit is $1.86. Can you feed your family on that?

Join  me in contacting our Utah congressional delegation and tell them to oppose cuts to SNAP and to instead support raising the baseline benefit amount for SNAP.

Submitted by DAVID P. BILLINGS, Salt Lake City.

Letters to the Editor are not the product of St. George News, its editors, staff or contributors. The matters stated and opinions given are the responsibility of the person submitting them; they do not reflect the product or opinion of St. George News.

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Letters to the Editor are not the product of St. George News, its editors, staff or news contributors. The matters stated and opinions given are the responsibility of the person submitting them. They do not reflect the product or opinion of St. George News and are given only light edit for technical style and formatting.

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14 Comments

  • Common Sense March 9, 2018 at 7:19 am

    I disagree. Too many people use and abuse govt programs that were originally designed as temporary help. We need to get to the real underlying causes of why these people can not afford food.

    • comments March 9, 2018 at 11:43 am

      maybe because minimum wage is still 7-something an hour?????? ya think?

      as well as globalists shipped all the production jobs to china and mexico, etc

      not to mention the 30+ million illegals in this country, many receiving benefits

    • PogoStik March 9, 2018 at 9:38 pm

      … says a person who probably never missed a meal 🙁

  • Craig March 9, 2018 at 11:16 am

    We need to help people transition from welfare to independence.

    Instead, we promote welfare, ensuring people will be dependent on the state, punish them financially if they dare try to leave welfare, and remove pride and purpose from their lives.

    Welfare has become a tool of control, just as was slavery.

  • utahdiablo March 9, 2018 at 9:00 pm

    Yet the FLDS screw the US Taxpayers out of $12 Million in welfare fraud and they only get a slap on the wrist and a $100 fine? ….get tough with this crap or lose benefits…you cannot have it both ways

  • dodgers March 10, 2018 at 6:49 am

    If SNAP remains, it should be a limited-time provision to recipients. After a maximum period, all benefits end. And by no means should we be increasing the payout. It is “supplemental,” meaning it is not intended to be a sole source provision of food. We should not be growing government provided welfare.

    • PatriotLiberal March 14, 2018 at 3:48 pm

      So lets say that maximum is 1 year. Say you lose your job and it takes you 11 months to get another one. 10 years later that company goes under through no fault of yours and you lose your job. Should you really have starve after that first month of unemployment?

  • commonsense March 10, 2018 at 11:51 am

    case In point: a we’ll dressed woman pulls up next to me at a gas pump. She is expensively well dressed, her car a brand new $60 k SUV with two sizes of trailer hitches for boats or trailers. The
    gas cost her $95.

    She goes inside and grabs donuts, cigarettes and coffee, and pulls out her food stamp card. She argues that the clerk should charge it all to the card because another store will let her get away with using food stamps for this same junk.

    The woman has enough money to buy a luxuary car, expensive clothes andrecreationsl toys but wants tax payers to buy her cigs and junk food.

    • comments March 10, 2018 at 2:01 pm

      i think you’re making this up. like that time you said you were a physician. I believe these are your personal fairytales.

  • Redbud March 12, 2018 at 9:59 pm

    OK David P Billings, I have a question for you. You want to increase the use of welfare. Who is going to pay for it?

    • PatriotLiberal March 14, 2018 at 3:43 pm

      Your questions tells me that you’ve never had to miss a meal because you couldn’t afford it. You are very fortunate.

      I can answer your question. Me and many other Americans I know. I’m more than willing to contribute a little more money if it means people who would otherwise starve get to eat.

      • Redbud March 14, 2018 at 8:09 pm

        PatriotLiberal, it’s called Top Ramen, mac n cheese, cutting back on unnecessary expenses like cable (which I don’t have), and do anything else I possibly can to carry me through. It’s called being a responsible adult rather than a whining liberal who wants a hand-out. I’ve been laid off before, and have also had emergency repairs, but because I am smart with my money and willing to work extra hard, I have never required assistance. I am not saying we should get rid of welfare, but rather save it for those who TRULY need it. That’s where Lib-tards and the right will constantly have to agree to disagree because only those with common sense truly understand the definition of someone who truly needs the assistance, and for what length of time. I used to live in a larger city where people would walk up to my manager at work, hand her a form, and beg her to sign it stating that they had filled out an application for employment to satisfy their eligibility requirements. My manager and myself were smart enough, unlike you people, to see right through their B.S.!!! Libtards could care less if people game the system and use welfare for so they can sit on their rear-ends and laugh at the people like you who so easily give up your money for naught. Thou fool! To those who TRULY need the assistance, let them have it, but ONLY them.

        • PatriotLiberal March 15, 2018 at 1:42 am

          Redbud,
          First thank you for your reply. As I said before, you are very fortunate to have never required asistance and I hope that you never do. I have and I would not wish that experience on my worst enemy.
          I know that there are people who abuse the system but you know what? If there were 1,000 people on welfare and 999 were gaming the system I would still be in favor of it. You know why? That 1 person who isn’t. If caring more about people then I do about money makes me a “Libtard” in your eyes, well, so-be-it

          • Redbud March 15, 2018 at 6:02 pm

            Anyone who is ok with 999 people abusing the welfare system, and only 1 person getting helped has issues, whether they’re democrat, republican, independent, it doesn’t matter. Thanks for further proving my point!

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