The Schumer Shutdown is about to hit the one-month mark. Of course, Senate Democrats could end this any time they please; all they have to do is say "yes" to the House-passed continuing resolution (CR), which just extends spending at current levels, to allow time to work out the issues for next year's budget. We have, of course, covered that extensively - and will continue to cover it until Senate Democrats get off their hineys.
But, as the old saying goes, with every crisis comes an opportunity. This crisis is no exception: on November 1st, the government's primary food assistance program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), will run out of money. That's already creating panic in some (Democrat) quarters. There have been efforts to keep this going, to fund just that program, but so far those have come to naught.
So much for Democrats' concern for the poverty-stricken.
Read More: Iowa Rep Introduces New Stand-Alone SNAP Funding Bill to Sidestep Schumer Shutdown
Thank You, Chuck Schumer: USDA Says SNAP Benefits Will Run Out, With No Emergency Fund to Pull From
Local food pantries are already feeling the pinch from the upcoming SNAP shutdown.
Food banks and pantries were already struggling after federal program cuts this year, but now they’re bracing for a tsunami of hungry people if a pause in federal food aid to low-income people kicks in this weekend as the federal government shutdown persists.
The rush has already begun. Central Christian Church’s food pantry in downtown Indianapolis scrambled Saturday to accommodate around twice as many people as it normally serves in a day.
“There’s an increased demand. And we know it’s been happening really since the economy has downturned,” volunteer Beth White said, adding that with an interruption in funding for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, “it’s going to continue to get worse for folks.”
Yes, it likely will get worse for folks. But we should note that there is almost no abject poverty in the United States; only relative poverty. This is a nation where the biggest health problem among people below the poverty line is obesity. Those on the left like to claim that this is because poor people can't afford good food and don't have time to cook, but that's a canard. There are few more affordable foods than dry beans, rice, and lean turkey and chicken, all of which can make up the better part of a healthy diet. As for the "they are working five jobs and don't have time to cook," I'd like any Democrat to point out five such people. Further, Democrats look at the 40 million Americans who are on SNAP and claim that as a measure of their compassion, instead of asking, "How is it that 1 of 8 Americans require help to buy food?"
It’s a concern shared by charitable food providers across the country as states prepare for lower-income families to see their SNAP benefits dry up. SNAP helps 40 million Americans, or about 1 in 8, buy groceries. The debit cards they use to buy groceries at participating stores and farmers markets are normally loaded each month by the federal government.
The food banks described here provide a solution, not a stopgap.
It's all a matter of incentives. Being on government assistance should not be easy, and it should not be comfortable. The purpose of a welfare program, any welfare program, is to help people up - to provide a stepstool, not a hammock. In the present system, recipients go to the grocery store, buy more or less what they please, and pay with an unobtrusive debit card. There's no onus. There's no slight feeling of embarrassment.
That's why it's time to eliminate that system, and this crisis has shown us the way forward. The food pantry model, not the grocery store model, is the way. Instead of the benefits going to consumers, the benefits can go to local food banks. Set up government-run food banks if that's what's required to get this done. Worried about staffing them? Make it a requirement for people on the program to work, 10, 20 hours a week at the food bank, to receive their benefits. Instead of a card, they get an issue: Dry beans, rice, lean turkey, fresh vegetables. Milk if they have small children. Offer classes in cooking, at first by accomplished cooks, later by the recipients doing their required service to authorize their draw.
"You can't tell people what they can and can't eat," the left will complain. To that we should reply, "When we're paying for it, we damn well can."
Oh, and if anyone is caught selling their draw on the side? They are ineligible for benefits. Forever.
Incentives matter. Our welfare programs are too generous, too convenient, too subject to abuse. Some states are starting to adopt policies limiting what SNAP benefits are used for: No pop, no candy, no ice cream, no take-and-bake pizzas, no premium meats. That's good, and it's worth doing. But the entire system needs an overhaul.
This crisis is showing us the way. Churches and other charities around the country are already looking for ways to help with the SNAP shutdown. Why not let them take it over for good and all?
