Stamp Me Foodless!

  Ever think about how far in debt the United States is? Over 15 TRILLION dollars! Ever wonder how many people are on food stamps (the SNAP program)? Almost 47 million people are currently relying on the average 134$ worth of food stamps per month. Now consider the fact that not even half of the people eligible to “take advantage” of the program actually do! So imagine if 100 million people used these benefits every month. According to my calculations, that would be a $13.5 billion bill every month! That’s $162 billion dollars a year!   So, do all those eligible actually have a need for these benefits? Or is our system too lenient? I have to say due to recent news articles involving millionaire lottery winners still using this system, I tend to be skeptical. Before I researched I was pretty sure that the “rules” for getting food stamps were insanely vague and full of loop holes. Upon researching I have discovered that even though they are much stricter than I imagined (the unemployment rules for example). However, they do leave a few gaps for abusers. For example, non citizens can receive benefits (migrant workers and those applying for citizenship, also, those who have children born here but lack papers). I have nothing against people coming to our country for a better life. However, I do thoroughly believe the rules for immigration should be followed. Not to mention, if a person is not a legal citizen they probably should not be allowed to have governmental assistance which is meant for the countries own citizens.
   I also believe the target of the system is being missed almost completely. In the past few years unemployment has skyrocketed and finding a job is getting more and more difficult. If caught unprepared, the loss of a job can cause a person to spiral into an almost impossible cycle ending in homelessness and starvation. While there are countless programs targeting the jobless, programs can only help so much. If the person has a marred record or is over a certain age - the job market is narrow and almost nonexistent. These are the people that need money for food. People who have no flow of income but have worked and paid taxes and found themselves lost. However, the unemployed are only eligible for 3 months of help within a 36 month period! While there is cause for concern with lack of motivation, I feel a tad more lenience would be appropriate.
  All in all, I feel that regulating who we give assistance to - combined with tightening down on other economic support systems - would cut down on the terrifying bill that our country racks up daily.
I can only hope for a tighter knit set of criteria in the future to cut down on our trillions in debt.