When President Barack Obama increased unemployment benefits as part of his economic stimulus, he also made some Americans ineligible for hundreds of dollars a month in food stamps.Thankfully, we have the smart President now so things like this can't ... never mind.Under the economic recovery plan, laid-off workers have seen a $25 weekly bump in their unemployment checks as part of a broad expansion of benefits for the poor. But the law did not raise the income cap for food stamp eligibility, so the extra money has pushed some people over the limit.
Laid-off workers and state officials are only now realizing the quirk, a consequence of pushing a $787 billion, 400-page bill through Congress and into law in three weeks.
And for people hurt by the change, there's no way around it.
"Everybody tells you, 'Yeah, I can understand why you're frustrated. It doesn't sound right.' But nobody knows where to go," said Mark Milota, 47, of Marietta, Ga., who was laid off in November from his job at a medical billing company.
The Georgia Department of Human Resources explained in a letter to him last month that, because of the stimulus, he was ineligible for food stamps. He now makes $1,538 a month — $21 too much for a family of two to qualify.
"We have to pay him that $25 a week," said Brenda Brown, assistant commissioner at the Georgia Department of Labor. "And he doesn't have the option not to accept it."
Monday, June 15, 2009
You're doing a heckuva job, Barry!
Stimulus increase of unemployment benefits means loss of food stamp eligibility. From Bunny. [Link]
4 comments:
Technically, Congress let this happen, when they failed to read the fine print before they rushed it through. I never did understand the hurry, since it didn't get signed until the following Tuesday, after a Friday vote. Appalling.
It's also possible that "the smart President" knew exactly what he was doing. Wonder how much is saved in food stamps... Enough to make the increase in benefits come out as a wash? That would be downright diabolical. Say it ain't so!
As the guy in charge, it is his ultimate responsibility. He certainly had input into the legislation and didn't have to sign it if it was flawed (no chance of that happening though).
Huh. I thought it was all his input and Congress just rubber-stamped it. So, you're saying he didn't read it, either? Then who wrote it? Sure, the buck stops at his desk, but somebody in his organization must have scanned it before it hit his desk, no? This is so messed up. At this rate, though, he's hemorrhaging votes.
I think those things are only written and read by staffers. No one with any power reads them. How could they find the time?
As to hemorraghing votes, I don't know. I know he should be, but the media still thinks he is the second coming. Until they lose faith(ha!), most of the people who don't follow politics aren't going to notice, or believe this is just partisan sniping, which it is to some degree. It just counts more when the 'objective' media says so.
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