Politicians, especially Republicans, should be grateful that food stamps exist

[brentspeak]

Food stamps keep politicians in office -- as per an insightful reader comment made in response to today's New York Times story that http://community.nytimes.com/comments/www.nytimes.com/2010/01/03/us/03foodstamps.html">1 in 50 Americans are living on nothing but food stamps:

It appears that the only reason we don't see lines of starving people outside of soup kitchens is that some are managing to get food stamps. One wonders if the pundits really be saying the recession was over if this were not the case. We are in the 1930's, people are starving, and dying and hopeless, but they are all hidden behind assistance programs and closed doors.

[Double T]

1. Our elected officials on both sides of the aisle are hiding behind anything........

their bloated, overindulged, overfed by lobbyists bodies will conceal. The only reason the recession is 'over' is because it is an election year. We will resume the depression AFTER the 2010 elections; hopefully all the incumbents will lose their office. Yes OP, it is a damn good thing that food stamps exist for those that have little or nothing. Poverty will continue to rise until the masses get so damn angry they're not going to take it anymore. I look forward to that day when REAL change can provide actual hope.

[Cirque du So-What]

2. Food stamps preserve more than their political lives

Starving people have nothing to lose. NOTHING. Do Republicans have the will to stand against scavenging hordes fanning out from their neighborhoods? Are they prepared to stick close to their own home base - practically all the time - to protect their precious belongings? Who could they trust to provide the additional security necessary for anything approaching a 'normal' life? Lots of freeper-types fantasize on the internet about living a survivalist dream - greasing a few liberals, Democrats & minorities along the way - but compared to the fat cats who've actually been running things, they're in piss-poor shape, and would likely find themselves scrounging for scraps alongside the same folks they demonize in their speech.

The very wealthy (at least those with any brains at all) realize that a bare-minimum safety net must exist in order to avert the complete breakdown of society. That's why they tolerate food stamps & other stopgap measures at all; it's the price they're willing to pay in order to continue their lavish lifestyles unmolested. They're willing to take a risk by allowing many thousands to slip through the cracks & become homeless, but a systemic failure would result in millions with nothing to lose - millions with growling bellies who would look upon the bread & butter mountains accumulated by the rich with envious eyes.