USDA
Melissa started a stirring discussion about federal spending on SNAP, the program which folks (particularly Republicans) refer to more loosely as food stamps. In addition to warming up for today's show by watching our Go Figure segment and both segments of the discussion below, I'd encourage you also to check out the Washington Post's Suzy Khimm's post from Wednesday. She cites a USDA study that shows (above) that not nearly as many people as are eligible collect their SNAP benefits, and a CNNMoney report which indicates that the government is actively trying to change that:
...the government is continuing an outreach effort through radio ads begun during the Bush administration to get more eligible people to sign up. The USDA is using such public service announcements to target ”underserved seniors, working poor, and legal immigrants”—key groups that might not understand the eligibility requirements for the program, [said] an USDA official...
Melissa's discussion is below, and after the jump. See you all at 10am ET for Melissa's interview with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi!
Go Figure: Melissa Harris-Perry runs through the numbers on the Farm Bill, passed through the Senate with bipartisan support.
Melissa Harris-Perry continues her panel discussion with author Peter Edelman, Kathleen Hall Jamieson of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, Alicia Menendez of HuffPost Live, and University of Connecticut professor Jelani Cobb on the political framing of food assistance and so-called "food stamps."
Author Peter Edelman, Kathleen Hall Jamieson of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, Alicia Menendez of HuffPost Live, and University of Connecticut professor Jelani Cobb join Melissa Harris-Perry to talk about the public perception on whether or not they are better off under President Obama's administration.
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During the first Great Depression, there were no public safety nets. Thank goodness President Obama and Congress had programs in place which COULD be adjusted to meet Americans' needs during the last 4 years! That's what I am most grateful for this time around. Can you imagine what our society would look like at this point in the debacle without these programs?
We are far too interwoven as a country to point fingers accusingly at people facing hardship. That cruelty has become accepted in some circles, but it doesn't change the fact that American businesses off-shored jobs, American businesses pay inadequate wages, Americans' tax dollars do not automatically get invested in improving America, and too many American politicians play frivolously and callously with peoples' lives here at home as well as abroad.
I hope we'll be seeing the last of those who "can't see the forest for the trees" in the next few elections.