Conservatives deny they seek to cut off food stamps for striking workers' families
(Credit: AP / CBS) The liberal blog ThinkProgress last night highlighted a bill from a group of lawmakers affiliated with the Study Committee, a caucus of conservative House Republicans. The bill reads in part: "no member of a family unit shall participate in the food stamp program at any time that any able-bodied work eligible adult member of such household is on strike as defined in the Labor Management Relations Act."
Calling the provision a "stealth attack against union workers," ThinkProgress complained that it "would actually cut off all food stamp benefits to any family where one adult member is engaging in a strike against an employer."
But Brian Straessle, spokesman for the Study Committee, says that's not true.
"If you are eligible for food stamps in February, and you go on strike in March, you are still eligible for the same thing," he told Hotsheet. "All we are saying is going on strike itself does not make you eligible for more benefits."
"We're not in any way saying 'look, don't go on strike,'" he added.
Straessle pointed to language in the bill that follows the section excerpted above, which reads, "Provided, That a family unit shall not lose its eligibility to participate in the food stamp program as a result of one of its members going on strike if the household was eligible immediately prior to such strike, however, such family unit shall not receive an increased allotment as the result of a decrease in the income of the striking member or members of the household."
"All we are saying is going on strike itself does not make you eligible for more benefits," said Straessle.
ThinkProgress acknowledges that language in its post, but writes that "removing entire families from eligibility while a single adult family member is striking would have a chilling effect on workers who are considering going on strike for better wages, benefits, or working conditions."
The bill was introduced by Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, who leads the caucus, as well as Reps. Tim Scott (S.C.), Scott Garrett (N.J.), Dan Burton (Ind.), and Louie Gohmert (Texas); it is focused on spending on means-tested welfare programs. (Though ThinkProgress references H.R. 1135, an updated version of the bill has been introduced, H.R. 1167; the relevant language has not been changed.)
The bill, which was reintroduced last week, has not come up for consideration in the GOP-led House. If it is considered and passed it would face long odds in the Senate, where Democrats hold a majority.
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GOP reaches another new low. Cut food stamps to kids of striking workers - Forum
There is no bottom to the GOP barrel of tricks.All around the country, right-wing legislators are asking middle class Americans to pay for budget deficits caused mainly by a recession caused by Wall Street; they are attacking workers’ collective bargaining rights, which has provoked a huge Main Street Movement to fight back.
Now, a group of House Republicans is launching a new stealth attack against union workers. GOP Reps. Jim Jordan (OH), Tim Scott (SC), Scott Garrett (NJ), Dan Burton (IN), and Louie Gohmert (TX) have introduced H.R. 1135, which states that it is designed to “provide information on total spending on means-tested welfare programs, to provide additional work requirements, and to provide an overall spending limit on means-tested welfare programs.”
Much of the bill is based upon verifying that those who receive food stamps benefits are meeting the federal requirements for doing so. However, one section buried deep within the bill adds a startling new requirement. The bill, if passed, would actually cut off all food stamp benefits to any family where one adult member is engaging in a strike against an employer:
The bill also includes a provision that would exempt households from losing eligibility, “if the household was eligible immediately prior to such strike, however, such family unit shall not receive an increased allotment as the result of a decrease in the income of the striking member or members of the household.”
Yet removing entire families from eligibility while a single adult family member is striking would have a chilling effect on workers who are considering going on strike for better wages, benefits, or working conditions — something that is especially alarming in light of the fact that unions are one of the fundamental building blocks of the middle class that allow people to earn wages that keep them off food stamps.
With a record 42 million Americans on food stamps during these poor economic times, it appears that the right is simply looking for more ways to hurt working class Americans.
http://thinkprogress.org/2011/03/23/...n-food-stamps/
Now, a group of House Republicans is launching a new stealth attack against union workers. GOP Reps. Jim Jordan (OH), Tim Scott (SC), Scott Garrett (NJ), Dan Burton (IN), and Louie Gohmert (TX) have introduced H.R. 1135, which states that it is designed to “provide information on total spending on means-tested welfare programs, to provide additional work requirements, and to provide an overall spending limit on means-tested welfare programs.”
Much of the bill is based upon verifying that those who receive food stamps benefits are meeting the federal requirements for doing so. However, one section buried deep within the bill adds a startling new requirement. The bill, if passed, would actually cut off all food stamp benefits to any family where one adult member is engaging in a strike against an employer:
The bill also includes a provision that would exempt households from losing eligibility, “if the household was eligible immediately prior to such strike, however, such family unit shall not receive an increased allotment as the result of a decrease in the income of the striking member or members of the household.”
Yet removing entire families from eligibility while a single adult family member is striking would have a chilling effect on workers who are considering going on strike for better wages, benefits, or working conditions — something that is especially alarming in light of the fact that unions are one of the fundamental building blocks of the middle class that allow people to earn wages that keep them off food stamps.
With a record 42 million Americans on food stamps during these poor economic times, it appears that the right is simply looking for more ways to hurt working class Americans.
http://thinkprogress.org/2011/03/23/...n-food-stamps/
Taking the food out of children's mouths. Only to make it harder to go on strike.
Republicans class warfare and sheer glee at being able to hurt the little guy knows no boundary. They are repulsive and a disgrace.
We must close union offices, confiscate their money and put their leaders in prison. We must reduce workers' salaries and take away their right to strike."
- Adolph Hitler, May 2, 1933
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mackinac_Center_for_Public_Policy
http://www.buzzfeed.com/daves4/passive-aggressive-fridge-notes
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