Wonder why Fox News is reporting about SNAP benefits, formerly known as food stamps, right now?
Could it be that House Republicans are preparing to cut millions of Americans off the program that is often the only thing keeping working families out of poverty?
To prove their point, they’re focusing on Jason Greenslate, FOOD STAMP RECIPIENT.
Media Matters‘ Simon Maloy points out that Fox focused nine minutes of its special “The Great Food Stamp Binge” on Greenslate to create the false impression that he is a typical beneficiary of the program:
The vast majority of SNAP households (75 percent, according to the Congressional Budget Office) have a child, a person over the age of 60, or a disabled person. Greenslate’s yearly benefit represents 0.000003 percent of the annual SNAP budget. He is in no way representative of SNAP recipients, and his behavior is atypical — waste and fraud within the SNAP program is actually pretty rare.
A new study shows that food stamps kept four million Americans out of poverty in 2012.
The explosion of food stamp use, which seems to be higher in regions that vote Republican, is the direct result of the financial crisis. So while the GOP protects the tax breaks for the richest, including hedge fund managers who helped crash our economy, they’re opportunistically attacking the poor — using a guy who represents 0.000003 percent of SNAP beneficiaries to make their case.
