The topic of feeding those in need doesn’t sound like it should be controversial but the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, in the United States is bizarrely under attack by Republicans in the current Congress. Joining host Robert Scheer on this episode of the Scheer Intelligence podcast is Christopher Bosso to discuss his newest book, “Why SNAP Works: A Political History—and Defense—of the Food Stamp Program.”
Bosso and Scheer delve into the destructive politics that aim at destroying needed programs like SNAP despite their effectiveness in helping poor and working class people. “SNAP gets caught up in this welfare debate, which [has] its fair share of racial and gender overtones to it, because this notion that you should take care of yourself is deeply ingrained in [our] culture,” Bosso said.
The view of poor and working class people continues to evolve in the US, especially when programs like SNAP are put up to a debate amongst politicians. Scheer says that the program is a win-win in every facet and explains “I'm in such shock that this is a center of controversy… Most of my life this has not been a controversial program. Agriculture likes it. Rural America likes it. Republicans often have liked it. Even cranky liberals like it.” On the other hand, Scheer notes that something very similar happened when neoliberal president Bill Clinton boasted about ending welfare as we know it with his destruction of the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program. Meanness towards the poor is unfortunately bipartisan. But the current attack on the once non-controversial food stamp program, Bosso responds, is a new low for Republicans.
