>>> tonights lead, americans feel the ax. republicans turn their backs. today for the first time in history, every single american who receives food stamps are seeing their benefits reduced. because funding from a 2009 measure is running out. 47 million americans who get these benefits are feeling the pain today. its happening all over the country. >> absolutely vital particularly for an area like ours and the economic situation were in. >> i dont look at it as a dollar amount im losing, im looking at it as two gallons of milk, couple loaves of bread. >> it helps a lot. like, tremendously. usually just about takes us through the month. >> we definitely need it. we definitely use it all. you know, we -- you know, we have to eat. were not eating better. >> these are people from all walks of life. about 21 million children live in households that count on food stamps. 900,000 military veterans count on food stamps. thats a group republicans never tire of pretending they care about. >> cant we all come together in a bipartisan matter and say we support our veterans? >> they should be able to take action to support our veterans. >> protect and honor americas brave men and women in uniform. >> protect and honor the brave. republicans can start by not turning back their backs on veterans. and thats exactly what theyre doing. where are they today? gone. instead of trying to fix the problem, house republicans who set the legislative calendar are taking a break. theyll be off all next week. while 47 million americans suffer, theyll be on vacation. theyll focus on slashing $40 billion more from food stamps when back to work. think about those priorities. they want to take food away from children and give breaks to wall street. but this isnt just about food stamps. its paul ryan back with his old plan to cut social security and medicare. its republican senator tom coburn praise the devastating budget cuts that hit head start and other vital programs. its about a philosophy that says if youre down on your luck, then youre out of luck. in the greatest country in the world. and the richest country in the world for a political party to govern like this is a shame. joining me now is congresswoman karen bass and washington post e.j. dionne. good to see you. congresswoman, 47 million americans suffering today, and your republican colleagues want to slash 40 billion more. how do you fight this? >> well, you know what? im happy to say that there is going to be a committee of both the house and the senate thats going to be meeting while were on break. and hopefully they will come to some resolution. its worse than just protecting wall street. you remember, rev, that when this was voted on, some of the same republican members of the house voted for themselves to have farm subsidies to the tune of billions of dollars. i think it is tragic that the house wants to cut $40 billion more. now, one thing im comforted by is i know that will never get through the senate. so during this conference committee, i hope they come to a resolution. in my opinion, they shouldnt be making cuts to food stamps at all. but $40 billion is ridiculous. >> you know, e.j., rush limbaugh the real head of the republican party, he really shows the mentality of so many on the right. here he is today on food stamps. listen to this. >> its as though these people cant even provide an m & m for themselves. the idea without food stamps people are going to starve. people are going to go without 21 meals this month because they have a $36 cut in their food stamp allotment? >> now, you know e.j., limbaugh cant imagine that $36 would cut 21 meals. but heres the reality. on average s.n.a.p. benefits pay for $1.40 per meal. thats it. so a $36 reduction would mean losing about 25 meals. do the math. so, yes, rush. $1.40 a meal, try living on that. why do so many on the right demonize people who are poor, e.j.? >> did you notice that term these people. what does he mean by these people? these people include a whole lot of americans who work really hard for a living. if you want to cut food stamps, the best way to do it is raise the minimum wage so people would have more take-home pay in their pockets. the average household gets $281 a year in food stamps. thats less than $3400 a year. the average individual gets $133 a year. thats less than $ 1600 a year. does limbaugh really think this is enormous amounts of money? he gets a lot more than that, i bet, if he has a mortgage deduction. this is not a very generous program. its just helping people get by. >> you know, congresswoman, the issue is really bigger than just food stamps. look at the priorities of the republicans. they really havent changed. theyre fighting to cut social security and medicaid. they want more means testing for medicare. they love to keep the sequester cuts which hit things like head start and meals on wheels. and on the flip side, they want lower taxes for the rich, subsidies for all companies, and they want to gut wall street reform. these are some real weird priorities for people that claim they love america and love the american people. >> and dont forget to add in that they dont want people to have health care. >> thats near the top of the list. >> exactly. i do think its sad. but it really does reflect an underlying philosophy. and that is the survival of the fittest. and so we dont want to put a hand out to help folks. if you cant make it, then youre out of luck. but when were talking about food stamps just like you showed at the beginning of the segment is theres a lot of veterans on food stamps. are they saying that theyre just sitting around waiting to have a government handout? i think its a real double standard. and its a very sad way that the republican party has developed. you know, in addition to cutting, they also want to add on crazy restrictions like you have to have drug testing and you have to work ignoring the fact that a huge percentage if not the majority of people who are on food stamp dos work. they just dont make enough of a living to feed themselves completely. >> and it is that attitude, e.j., it is the disdain for people that is really, really troubling to me. its one thing to deal with policy, but its a disdain for low income americans that come from all of the pundits and speakers for the right. listen to this. >> self reliance means if anyone shall not work, neither shall he eat. >> really poor children in poor neighborhoods have no habits of working and have nobody around them who works. they have no habit of i do this and you give me cash. unless its illegal. >> teach a man how to fish, he can feed himself for a life. dont simply feed fish. >> everybody out of work is eating. theyve got big screen tv, probably have a car, probably have a cell phone. >> my contention is that the obama administration is encouraging parasites to come out and, you know, take as much as they can with no remorse. >> now, we can debate economic policy. we can debate how you aid those low income americans. but the disdain, the almost demonizing and denigrating of people because of the economic status, that to me is inexcusable, e.j. >> i think so too. theyre acting as if all these folks have mansions right next door to donald trump on public benefits. they act as if all these folks dont want to work. one of the insidious things in the house bill is that they say they have a work requirement. but thats not a real work requirement, because states can cut people even if theyre unemployed, even if theyre looking for work, even if they cant find jobs that they want to take. and the state is under no obligation to help them. thats not a work requirement. thats just punishing people because the unemployment rate is high. and so its crazy to talk this way about our fellow citizens and i agree with you. i think its wrong. >> congresswoman, but there is some good news in all of this. because some republicans might be seeing reality. some are slamming this war against the poor. the president of a major conservative think tank says, quote, one of the things in my view that we get wrong is this war against the social safety net which is just insane. and earlier this week gop governor kasich said, quote, im concerned about the fact there seems to be a war on the poor. so there seems to be a little crack of light in the middle of this wall that seems inflexible against working class people. >> you know, i do think that thats a hopeful sign. at the end of the day, we need the republicans to take their party back away from the extremis extremists. and its also part of the reality. the sad thing is its not like theres not poor people in their districts. because each one of the republicans that vote this way around food stamps that want to do these devastating cuts, they have tens of thousands of poor people in their district. now, it puts the -- >> many of whom work every day. many are working people. >> and theyre also people we need to go out and register so we can correct this next november. >> congresswoman karen bass, im going to have to leave it there. e.j. dionne, thank you for your time tonight as well. both of you have a great weekend.
Posted on: Sat, 02 Nov 2013 00:50:17 +0000
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