The farm bill that U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Cortez, proudly promotes on his website proposes slashing funds for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly “food stamps”) while increasing funds for crop insurance. This simply is choosing to subsidize one relatively wealthy constituency – farmers and agribusiness – at the expense of another less well off, the poor and working poor.
Recent reports indicate that slashing SNAP funds, besides being heartless, would be an economic mistake. Moody’s Analytics suggests that every dollar spent on food stamps in this economy raises GDP by about $1.70. That’s a return on investment that even Tipton should relish.
Having worked at and helped to fund soup kitchens, I believe most people who take food assistance really need it. That includes low-income children; SNAP helps increase their chances of doing well in school.
As if Tipton’s proposed course of action wasn’t heartless and morally bankrupt enough, the kicker is that crop insurance costs aren’t fully borne by the insured themselves. No, the federal government – taxpayers – subsidizes the costs. Finally, one of the big supporters of this bill is Stephen Fincher, congressman from Tennessee, who is one of the largest recipients of federal farm subsidies. From 1999 to 2012, he collected nearly $3.5 million in subsidies, including $70,000 in direct payments in 2012 alone.
Tipton and his Republican partners should be called out on this reverse Robin Hood maneuver. I have written Tipton urging him to reconsider his stance and will hope that others will do so, as well.
John Wallace
Durango
