When Foodstamps End in Atlanta, GA - Chaos in the Street! FOX 5

Clayton County Food Stamp Snafu Angers Many

Updated: Wednesday, 10 Aug 2011, 4:55 AM EDT
Published : Wednesday, 10 Aug 2011, 4:55 AM EDT

Justin Gray

Justin
Gray

By JUSTIN GRAY/myfoxatlanta

CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. - Anger and frustration from dozens of Clayton County

parents who say their children are going hungry after their food stamps were

suddenly cut off.

State officials admit that something went wrong down in Clayton County at

the office that administers food stamps and Medicaid but they're still not

sure what.

Parents say they can't buy food without those food stamps.

Terry Clark says she stood in line for more than six hours at Clayton

County's Human Services Office because food stamp help for her six children

unexpectedly ended.

"There's no telling my kids we can't eat. I'm not taking no. We don't

deserve that. Nobody should go hungry here in Georgia," said Terry Clark.

State officials say the office was overwhelmed Tuesday with dozens of

families facing a similar problem. The food stamps are just not there.

"Me and my kids they haven't ate since this morning. I was supposed to get

my food stamps yesterday and I got nothing," said a mother.

A state spokesperson says what happened was out of the ordinary and

unexpected but she said they don't know yet what went wrong -- what was the

glitch that lead to this mess?

"Our budgets have not been increased, they've been decreased," said one

official.

The office director admitted there were problems as he tried to calm fears.

In a statement, a state spokesperson says, "We have both state and county

staff working to understand the cause of the problem today. We are working

to ensure people receive their food stamps as soon as possible."

"I'm a cancer patient. I need these pills to survive," said Candace Bennett.

Candace Bennett says her cancer medications have nearly run out and after

spending all day at the office. Her Medicaid and her food stamps are both

still on hold.

State officials say that the Clayton County office was closed Monday because

of furloughs and that could have contributed to the lines. They are

investigating whether some sort of paperwork or computer problem might have

lead to some families getting their benefits cut off by mistake.

http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/news/local_news/Clayton-County-Food-Stamp-Sn

afu-Angers-Many-20110810-am-sd

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Comment by Central Scrutinizer on May 19, 2013 at 7:54pm: wazza snap card???

Comment by Wolf on May 19, 2013 at 7:29pm: Worst is when people think that the snap card is a desired way to live. Jobs are non existent as well as manufacturing jobs. I live very close to a very wealthy community, you should see the Wal-Mart lot...filled. I have to drive 20 miles to the closest grocery store...needless to say I don't go just to buy coffee.

Yet the thought that starving people would be the answer is ridiculous and harsh. HOw about rising up against the corporate welfare recipients as you say. It is so much easier to beat down the people who are already hurting then to go up against the idle rich and their companies. Shame!

I believe that the reason why we here in the US never learn about European history is that through the course of history when the idle rich beat the hell out of the peasants the peasants rise. They rise to such a level that they ALWAYS WIN. Never, ever have they lost...that is why we are so ignorant of the European history.

Brave heart along with Mel Gibson was a beautiful lesson of enough is enough...

Comment by Burbia on May 19, 2013 at 5:28pm: Don't forget to cut corporate welfare. Its not like its beneficial to the american public. But that's not what its about is it? Systematic destruction seems to be on the agenda though. Ritual sacrifice of the masses to deliver to what they believe to be their master. As a train runs on schedule so does the NWO. Are they turning up the boiling water on the frog too soon?

Comment by Wolf on May 19, 2013 at 4:44pm: How about cutting the "welfare" program for Israel and the fricking bankers and billion dollar companies (i.e., GE) first.

This is not human nor is it showing the people...this is bullshit.

Bring our jobs back...starving families worked really well for Stalin...no revolt just alot of dead people.

Comment by Central Scrutinizer on May 19, 2013 at 1:57pm: can't wait till this "welfare" program ends (money is about gone), I think a National Awakening would grow exponentially faster once the dull, lazy & listless realize what life is really about w/ out "Hand-outs" then welfare recipients will finally realize just how evil this Government actually is. Watch the fur fly then ;)

Comment by Burbia on May 19, 2013 at 1:50pm: Ax hovers over food stamp program as costs grow

By Andrew Rafferty, Staff Writer, NBC News

A heated battle is brewing on Capitol Hill over cuts to the food stamp program, with lawmakers quoting Bible verses at each other and benefits for millions of people hanging in the balance.

Nearly 47 million people – one in seven Americans – rely on food stamps for some or all of their daily sustenance, according to the Department of Agriculture, a number that has grown nearly 70 percent since the financial collapse of 2008.

The increased enrollment has caused costs to soar from $35 billion in 2007 to $80 billion last year, and now lawmakers in both the House and the Senate are targeting program for cuts even as advocates cry foul.

Legislation making its way through Congress would eliminate billions of dollars in funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, better known as food stamps. Last week, a Senate committee approved striking $4.1 billion from the program over 10 years and a House committee backed cuts five times as large.

Those actions set the stage for a congressional showdown not only over how much to slash the program, but also over the role of government in fighting hunger and poverty.

During contentious debate over the Farm Bill, which funds food stamps, in the House Agriculture Committee, Rep. Juan Vargas, D-Calif., invoked the Book of Matthew as he noted his opposition to the cuts.

“[Jesus] says how you treat the least among us, the least of our brothers, that’s how you treat him,” Vargas, adding that Jesus specifically mentions the importance of feeding the hungry.

Republican Congressman Stephen Fincher of Tennessee, who supports cuts to the program, had his own Bible verse from the Book of Thessalonians to quote back to Vargas: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat,” he said.

The left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that the House version of the farm bill making would throw nearly 2 million people off food stamps, most of whom are working families with children or senior citizens. More than 200,000 kids would lose access to free school lunches, according to the group.

The more modest Senate proposal would cost half a million SNAP recipients $90 each month, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. For a family of four, the current maximum monthly allotment is $668; recipients get less as their income rises. The cuts come on top of the looming expiration of a temporary funding boost the program received in 2009 as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that will also slash recipient benefits.

“It is impossible to impose these types of cuts to SNAP without having the most vulnerable in our society suffer,” said Stacy Dean, vice president for food assistance policy for the center.

Most households that get food stamps include either a child, a person over 60 or someone who is disabled, according to federal data. And all are either poor or low-income: To be eligible for food assistance, income must not exceed 130 percent of the federal poverty line -- roughly $30,000 annually for a family of four.
http://inplainsight.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/19/18307642-ax-hovers...