Newt Asks: Food Stamps, Or Paychecks...

by Newt Gingrich

In the 2008 campaign, President Obama gave us all a hint of his socialist leanings when he promised to Joe the Plumber that he would “spread the wealth around.”  Last week, we found out that his policies and those of the Democrats are delivering on that promise…although probably not in the way they expected.

The use of food stamps hit a record high in May 2010, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, with 40.8 million Americans receiving Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) subsidies for food purchases. This is more than one-eighth of the population. 

Worse, the USDA projects the number of Americans using food stamps will rise to 43.3 million in 2011.

President Obama, Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats are insisting that the economy has turned the corner and things are getting better.  But how can the economy be getting better if the use of food stamps, a key metric in gauging the health of the American economy, is projected to increase over the next year?"

For three and a half years I drove a bus that picked up senior citizens...you had to be over 55...who no longer were capable of operating a motor vehicle, and took them food shopping. Twice a day, for every day I could manage the trips.

For many, it can be a terrible sequence of events to suddenly find oneself wanting to remain independent but through no fault of one's own, save for living long enough, becoming a nuisance to society.  They drive, they cause or get in accidents, and eventually the cops take away their licenses. And for even the ones who still can get out and about, try getting a decent job in an economy that "lays off" senior, more expensive workers, and replaces them with less costly kids.

Happens everywhere, every day. Folks who WANT to go about their business but become trapped in a rut not of their own design. I'm not talking about the baby-factories of the country that earn their daily bread by procreating, but the average Joe or Jane America who might very well need a leg-up.

In seeing such goings on I became less fretful over the Food Stamp program, especially for the kids who need to eat and it isn't their fault that Mom and Pop are deadbeats. The kids, the oldsters who can't get around like they used to, versus the out and out bums.

Most of the time I wholeheartedly agree with his Newtness but sometimes businesses can be heartless dicks, too. Bottom line is people need work, Obama isn't getting it for them anytime soon, and until the economy can be fixed by someone with at least half a brain we do need a safety net for the ones who can't walk the high wire like they used to.

Yeah, I know. That was sort of his point. But until he can round off some of those hardass edges, the word won't be received in the spirit in which it was uttered. And let's face it; the older the country gets, the more food stamps get printed. Old Ronnie on his most Conservative day wouldn't shut down the presses for those who really needed it. Maybe I'm having a cranky day, but sometimes it seems like Newt would.