Republican Muscleheads

Since conservatives have gotten rid of voter suppression for us and we no longer need the Voting Rights Act, and that everyone gets health care in America so we don't need to expand Medicaid, it's also comforting to know that they've gotten rid of poor people and hunger in America, so we don't need SNAP benefits and food programs.

At a town hall in Welch, OK on Thursday, Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) called for the outright elimination of aid programs for low-income Americans, claiming that he has witnessed food stamp fraud firsthand. Mullin said he would like to “do away with a lot of these programs” because they allow people to slack off.

“The food programs are designed to take care of people who can’t work, not won’t work. And we all know those people that won’t work, right?” he asked the audience. “They’re abusing the program, and we’ve got to get them off of it.”

Of course, 618,000 Oklahomans are on SNAP which comes out to one in six, and due to the expiration of the SNAP boost from the 2009 Recovery Act, SNAP benefits are already due for a substantial cut across the board in November.  But of course, none of the people in that town hall meeting could possibly be one of those people.  (PS, Welch, OK is in Craig County, where about 20% of residents are on SNAP benefits as of 2011.  I'm sure those numbers are higher now.  But they're all frauds, right?)

"So I’m in Crystal City and I’m buying my groceries…and I noticed everybody was giving that card. They had these huge baskets, and I realized it was the first of the month. But then I’m looking over, and there’s a couple beside me. This guy was built like a brick house. I mean he had muscles all over him. He was in a little tank top and pair of shorts and really nice Nike shoes. And she was standing there, and she was all in shape and she looked like she had just come from a fitness program. She was in the spandex, and you know, they were both physically fit. And they go up in front of me and they pay with that card. Fraud. Absolute 100% all it is is fraud…it’s all over the place. And there you go, to the fact that we shouldn’t be supporting those who won’t work. They’re spending their money someplace."

So there you go, America.  Republicans have already established as "fact" that people who are fat can't possibly need food stamps, and now we know people who are fit can't possibly need food stamps, so really nobody needs them.

Here's the truth:

Meanwhile, many of those who receive SNAP benefits (from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamps) work: More than 40 percent of recipients live in a household with earnings. Those who don’t work are likely to be under 18 or over 60. In fact, strict eligibility requirements for the Supplementary Nutrition Assistance Program have disqualified one in four food insecure households for being too high-income, and are allowing at least 50 million people to go hungry. Regardless, House Republicans are gunning for more cuts that would kick millions more families off the vital program.

And Republicans like Rep. Mullin here want to trash the program completely.  Because our real problem is we spend too much money on poor people. Starve them all, let God and religious charites decide who's worthy, right?

You know, not those people.