Debate Club

Should Congress Pass the Farm Bill? >

House Farm Bill Cuts Off the Pathway to the Middle Class

Congress shouldn't pass a Farm Bill that puts the rich over the middle-class

September 14, 2012

About Melissa Boteach:

Melissa Boteach is the director of the Poverty and Prosperity Program for Center for American Progress and the director of Half in Ten for Center for American Progress Action Fund.

The House should reject the farm bill, which asks low and middle-income Americans to foot the bill for deficit reduction while asking nothing of the wealthiest Americans.

The bill slams families struggling to put food on the table by cutting $16 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly food stamps). These cuts would kick more than 2 million vulnerable people off of nutrition assistance, and cut 280,000 low-income schoolchildren from automatic enrollment in free school lunch. The bill axes $90 per month in food aid from 500,000 households by eliminating a provision that helps households with high utility bills avoid impossible choices between putting food on the table or paying their heating or cooling bills. With 84 percent of all supplemental nutrition assistance going to a household with a child, senior, or person with a disability, these cuts would cause real hardship to many vulnerable populations close to the edge.

[See a collection of political cartoons on Congress.]

House Republicans claim they want to end "dependency," but their bill also cuts off pathways to the middle class. Under the House farm bill, if a poor family on food stamps tried to save money for car repairs so they could get to work or to pay for tuition to train for a better job, they would lose their food aid. This is because the bill would eliminate a provision that enables states to waive stringent asset-limits that penalize families for saving money to pull themselves up.

But the poor aren't the only ones hurt by the House farm bill. Middle class families would also feel the pain. The House's nutrition cuts would cost our economy 19,000 jobs in 2014 as demand for food declined, hitting small businesses and grocers. It would also undermine long-term economic growth by increasing hunger, which costs our economy $167.5 billion a year in lost worker productivity, lower educational outcomes, and higher long-term health costs.

We don't need to cut nutrition assistance to cut the deficit. In fact poverty reduction and deficit reduction have traditionally gone hand-in-hand. The American people agree: 75 percent reject cuts to food assistance, which will increase hunger, cost us jobs, and hurt our long-term economic competitiveness. Congress should instead pass a farm bill that helps farmers while protecting nutrition assistance and strengthening the middle-class.

Tags:
farming,
Farm Bill,
House of Representatives,
food stamps,
economy,
Congress
Other Arguments
#2

No — Congress should not pass a farm bill that cuts support to struggling Americans

JIM WEILL, President of the Food Research and Action Center

#3
#4
#5

No — The nation is in too much debt for a bloated farm bill

NAN SWIFT, Federal Government Affairs Manager at the National Taxpayers Union

#6

No — Congress must cut off subsidies to well-off farmers funded by struggling tax payers

VINCE SMITH, Codirector of Montana State University’s Agricultural Marketing Policy Center

Reader Comments ()

About Debate Club

A meeting of the sharpest minds on the day's most important topics, Debate Club brings in the best arguments and lets readers decide which is the most persuasive. Read the arguments, then vote. And be sure to check back often to see who has gotten the most support—and also to see what's being discussed now in the Debate Club.

Have ideas about what the Club should be debating? E-mail it to dclub@usnews.com.

You can also join the debate on Facebook or follow Debate Club on Twitter.

Advertisement
Cartoons
Thomas Jefferson Street Blog
The NSA, Guns and Privacy in the Obama Administration

The Obama administration’s needs to take a long look in the mirror after revelations about government surveillance.

Polls Show American People Hate Almost Everything About Politics

The American people are breaking up with politics.

Do You Believe NSA Leaker Edward Snowden or President Obama?

Should we take the word of the NSA leaker or Obama?

Obama, Boehner and the GOP Crisis of Leadership

It’s tough for anyone to lead when some in the GOP seem committed to their own destruction.

Obamacare Opponents Have to Keep Pushing Repeal

The way to repeal Obamacare is to hasten its ugly results.

Can Obama's Berlin Speech Match John F. Kennedy's and Ronald Reagan's?

The two famous Berlin speeches almost never were.

Reform Conservatives Need to Tackle Unemployment and Jobs

"Reform conservatives" are doing good work, but need to think about the ills of long-term unemployment.

If Background Checks are Good Enough for Guns, They're Good Enough for Jobs

Employers need to be able to consider all factors before making a hire.

Advertisement