No Job Search Rules For Food Stamps

21 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

• 

  Norther on February 02 at 4:22 p.m.

  I think there are many reforms to the food stamp program that need to be addressed. Withholding food from people who are not working is not one of them. If they are getting cash or any other form of compensation they need to be actively seeking a way to make their lives better. If they are just getting coupons for food, step off of them.

• 

  Kage_Mann on February 02 at 4:31 p.m.

  Norther, said it.

• 

  duroc on February 02 at 4:34 p.m.

  Agree with Norther.
  –—

  This isn’t on-topic, but I see by the graphic that IdahoReporter is now on TV? What the hell? What kind of dirt does Wayne Hoffman have on the owner of the Treasure Valley Fox News affiliate?

• 

  Sisyphus on February 02 at 4:38 p.m.

  Certainly not on the basis of a Dustin Hurst “investigative” report. Perhaps these 22,000 are self employed hit hard by the economic downturn struggling to stay afloat until the economy improves. Driving them into a futile job hunt seems ludicrous to me. Let’s not forget that these benefits are little more than a grocer’s subsidy that happens to feed the poor. That extra cash goes right back into Idaho communities. Moreover, contrary to what Dustin and his IFF overlords want you to believe, its time we stop blaming the poor for the the fault of Wall Street fat cats who got billions more from government than ever goes out under the SNAP program.

• 

  duroc on February 02 at 4:41 p.m.

  Thank you, Sisyphus. Idaho would certainly be a better place without the influence of Wayne Hoffman. It was before. It will be again.

• 

  dustinhurst on February 02 at 4:47 p.m.

  Same dirt, different day coming from the same folks at HBO.

  Duroc, to answer your question, Fox12 made an agreement with IdahoReporter.com last year for us to come do a weekly update for them. It didn’t last very long because I wasn’t very good on camera.

  You will also notice that Fox12 is no longer producing any news content.

  Maybe that sums up how bad I am on television.

• 

  duroc on February 02 at 4:55 p.m.

  @Dustin: I do not now (nor have I ever) had any beef with you. My problem is with your employer, Wayne Hoffman, who uses Idaho Reporter as a propaganda arm for the Idaho Freedom Foundation.

  Everybody’s got to eat. I don’t blame you for taking a job from Hoffman. But you can do better.

  I’m sure you were fine on TV. You’ve got a bright future. But not with Wayne Hoffman.

• 

  greenlibertarian on February 02 at 5:02 p.m.

  Hurst sounds rather bitter… what up wit dat?

  I found this interesting:

  It hasn’t always been this way, though. Tom Shanahan, spokesman for DHW, said that before budget holdbacks occurred in late 2009, the state required this select group of people to be seeking work in order to receive food stamps. Budget cuts forced the department to cut administrative costs and the oversight requirements were effectively ended.

  Who’s idea was it to use a graphic that depicts two things that no longer exist, Fox12 News and Idaho Reporter having a segment on such?

• 

  dustinhurst on February 02 at 5:03 p.m.

  @Duroc

  I appreciate that. I know a lot of people have beef with Wayne and I can understand that, but all I know is that I am thankful he gave me a chance to become a decent - don’t laugh, Sis - journalist. He believes in the mission of IFF and I can’t fault him for that.

  I believe in what I am doing at IdahoReporter.com and haven’t compromised my values to perform my work.

  And no, I was terrible on TV. Trust me. :)

• 

  dustinhurst on February 02 at 5:04 p.m.

  @Green I’m not bitter, just wish I could do a little better on TV.

  It’s DFO’s call on the photo, but my guess is that it’s from his IR-related stockpile.

• 

  eagleeye on February 02 at 5:06 p.m.

  Sis,
  As long as these workers are able bodied , what would be wrong with asking them to be looking for work ? What makes you think that no effort towards getting employment is better than some effort ? That seems odd to me.

• 

  PhoenixRising on February 02 at 5:08 p.m.

  I dunno, there could be problems for asking them to work, but shouldn’t those one the left side of the spectrum support anything that supports getting more volunteers into schools? Think of how much service could be done if those 22,000 each volunteered 4 hours a week in a local school.

  This won’t happen, though, so I’m not sure it’s really that important.

• 

  riggs on February 02 at 5:10 p.m.

  Employment is the issue, not food stamps, though the two tie together.

  In the broader picture, unemployment and food stamps should be reformed to the German model. Rather than pay the person out of work, they qualify for wage subsidy from employers. The person stays employed because the fed spiffs his employer money. Deferred work gets done (paint the plant, overhaul the machines, etc) that can’t otherwise be done. Subsidy with reviews by the employer/fed at 6 month intervals makes a lot more sense than straight unemployment plus food stamps.

  Never happen here.

• 

  Norther on February 02 at 5:17 p.m.

  PR - I am all for requiring job search for any benefit monies. I just can’t be so callous to deny food. I wish it was run more like the WIC program so you didn’t have people who are struggling to make ends meet see someone with the foodstamp card buying junk food. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth every time. But we can feed the hungry and not starve ourselves.

  Welfare cash on the other hand? Watch me get all barbaric. You want ceaser’s gold, you had best earn it. I will openly admit that if you recieve one penny of welfare money to either raise your children or yourself, you need to pay it back! There is no reason with as many able bodied people as we have getting a check from the state, that we should have to pay anyone to do half the jobs that government pays contractors. Minimum wage. You get a check from Idaho for $210, you need to put 30 hours in. Period. But nobody should starve in a country where we have food and the means to provide it.

• 

  Stickman on February 02 at 6:36 p.m.

  Dustin: You’re opening sentence didn’t sit well with me. Same dirt, different day from the same folks here on HBO. That’s not fair. I did enjoy the thread though, I try to learn something each and every day when I come here.

• 

  Stickman on February 02 at 6:39 p.m.

  It’s not unemployment, where a job search is required. It’s so people can eat that are having a hard time.

• 

  dustinhurst on February 02 at 6:51 p.m.

  @Stickman I apologize. That was not my intention. I just want a discussion of the issues, not personalities.

• 

  Stickman on February 02 at 7:20 p.m.

  dustin, I agree. The blogfest is coming soon, I hope to see you and the rest that love to say their peace. It’s makes us all a much better family. The ones that spout the most won’t be there of course. Keep up your comments, it makes us who we are.

• 

  dustinhurst on February 02 at 8:01 p.m.

  I wish I could come, but unfortunately I live in Boise. Thanks for the invite. Someday.

• 

  misjustice on February 02 at 8:25 p.m.

  Question: Should unemployed recipients of food stamps be required to seek jobs?

  WHAT JOBS?
  In this economy? Really? When folks with Masters Degrees are hard pressed to get a not-so-decent job?

• 

  jmrusche on February 03 at 7:58 a.m.

  SNAP (Supplimental Nutritional Assistance Program, Food Stamps) is a US Dept. of Agriculture program (http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/) designed to give food assistance and to help food producers by increasing the market support for their products.

  One of the really ironic parts of this story is that those Idaho H&W eligibility workers that used to “control” access to SNAP are gone due to the reductions in workforce dictated by the budget cuts. One of the “efficiency” moves to reduce the workforce was to change the process on eligibility determination. No capacity to do the eligibility research, so the change in the eligibilty process and the 22,000 additional eligibles. The effect of “smaller government” is not always what people expect.

  The average monthly payment for SNAP is not great, I recall about $120. And for many families it is a lifeline that keeps things going.

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