Brendan Skwire says that the Republicans' recent initiative to kick all family members of striking workers off food stamps is actually a policy adopted originally ... in 1981. Why haven't we heard about it? Because, he says, it's largely symbolic:
[W]hile the language is offensive, it’s largely unworkable if the idea is to kick people already receiving [food stamps] off the program. When you apply, there’s a requirement to report if you’re on strike. If you’re already receiving SNAP, it’s a lot harder to determine that, simply due to the fact that the welfare offices where the majority of SNAP cases are handled are overworked, understaffed, inefficient, and in general swamped. ... [N]o one has the time (or for that matter the resources) to go through every applicant’s files to see which ones belong to unions and which unions are on strike at any given time. The only way this “policy” (and I’m using the term charitably) could work is if a striker went into the county assistance office and said “hey guys, those food stamps i’m getting? Cancel them, I’m on strike”.
There you have it: A great example of the real beauty of the internet, where people who actually know things tell other people who don't.
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