GOP Candidates Ramp Up Debate Over Food Stamps
Republican candidates are not shying away from a debate over food stamps, and most of them want major reforms to the system.
It’s a topic that politicians would typically rather avoid. Food stamps and other welfare programs are considered virtually untouchable, and while Republicans in Congress will talk about reforms and making changes, presidential candidates will more often than not shy away from even discussing it. This year, however, the Republican candidates are diving headlong into the topic. Those who support food stamps contend that it provides a reliable safety net for families who are suddenly unable to meet their bills. In 2011, however, over 45 million people received such benefits, at a cost of over $75 billion.
GOP candidates Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum, both of whom worked to reform welfare in the mid 90s in Congress, say that the government is creating a welfare state and that the program must be overhauled. Both propose to convert the food stamp program to block grants for each state, with the states individually administering their own programs. Likewise, both Gingrich and Santorum took criticism this week when they seemed to indicate that blacks are the overwhelming recipients of food stamps and welfare.
Santorum, for example, noted, that he did not want to "make black people's lives better by giving them somebody else's money. I want to give them the opportunity to go out and earn the money." While Mitt Romney doesn’t talk much about the topic, he is also in favor of block grants, and noted, "I think that there's some folks like Tom Vilsack and President Obama himself that imagine that if you just throw money at people, that somehow that will make the economy better. But we're out there borrowing money from the Chinese, to hand out money here, and that is not going to get America working again."
GOP candidates Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum, both of whom worked to reform welfare in the mid 90s in Congress, say that the government is creating a welfare state and that the program must be overhauled. Both propose to convert the food stamp program to block grants for each state, with the states individually administering their own programs. Likewise, both Gingrich and Santorum took criticism this week when they seemed to indicate that blacks are the overwhelming recipients of food stamps and welfare.
Santorum, for example, noted, that he did not want to "make black people's lives better by giving them somebody else's money. I want to give them the opportunity to go out and earn the money." While Mitt Romney doesn’t talk much about the topic, he is also in favor of block grants, and noted, "I think that there's some folks like Tom Vilsack and President Obama himself that imagine that if you just throw money at people, that somehow that will make the economy better. But we're out there borrowing money from the Chinese, to hand out money here, and that is not going to get America working again."
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