On Friday (4/26/13), Your World fell in line with the Fox News meme of falsely suggesting that the USDA is promoting food stamp benefits to undocumented immigrants. Crystal Wright of Baker Wright Group, LLC and host Neil Cavuto turned the topic to food stamps in general. Cavuto suggested that a large number were gaming the system: “You’re talking 1 out of 5 of us in that position. That can’t be that high - that may be deserving.”
Wright went along. She said, “It’s actually one out of seven. You and I have spoken about this before and remember, last year you and I talked about how the USDA was advertising for more people to get on food stamps (Cavuto added, 'That’s right.') It was telling local states, 'Hold Bingo parties, Guys.' …I’m like you, it should be for the neediest of the poor, and in 1970 only 1 in 50 Americans were on food stamps. So really this President needs to focus on job creation.”
As Catholic Online notes, “Continuously sluggish job markets coupled with a rising poverty rate are the chief factors behind the increase in food stamps.” And, as Media Matters reported:
Fox News continues to falsely claim that Obama is creating a “culture of dependency” for anti-poverty programs put in place before his presidency and exacerbated by the recession. In reality many SNAP recipients work and only stay on the program a short time. The Center for Budget Policy Priorities reported that “in 2010 more than three times as many SNAP households worked as relied solely on welfare benefits for their income.” CBPP also explained that contrary to the dependency myth, SNAP and other safety net programs have helped to keep nearly five million people out of poverty, two million of whom are children.
Also not mentioned: according to Moody’s Economy, for every dollar spent on food stamps, $1.73 is generated. So as Cavuto and his pals at Fox pretend that food stamps are some kind of drag on the “makers” by the “takers,” the truth is that they are, as Moody’s puts it, the “best stimulus.”
Video below via Media Matters.
