CNN reported yesterday that for the past four months, the Department of Agriculture has been spending around $3 million on radio ads encouraging people to enroll in the food stamp program. The ads are being aired in California, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, and the New York metro area. USDA Under Secretary Kevin Concannon, commented for the story and suggested that people “do not understand the requirements of the program," which keeps them from signing up.
Um, really?
Maybe Concannon hasn’t seen the latest data which shows that 46 million Americans – that’s one in seven! — are currently getting food stamps.
Seems like folks kinda get it.
Apparently what’s got the Obama administration so concerned is the data also shows that one in four Americans eligible for food stamps do not participate. To the Obama administration, this has to be a case of these people not understanding the process, or not being aware that they qualify.
What clearly doesn’t occur to these government nannies is that some people may simply NOT WANT TO GET WELFARE. I know that may come as a shock to people who work for Obama but in certain circles, welfare is still something that carries with it a stigma and considerable shame.
Is it so difficult for government officials to understand a person’s simple desire to make it on their own; to survive without the help of the government? Does it occur to anyone at the USDA that maybe; just maybe, people want to go through life without Uncle Sam’s handouts? This is just more condescension from Washington bureaucrats who views the poor as constantly in need of assistance, incapable of caring for themselves or their families.