Not the truly needy

Now here is a federal program that could use a little scrutiny: A $6.7 billion program to “put healthy food on dinner tables” (Nov. 22, “Filling a family need”). The program is entitled the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program.

Now, I have no problem with helping feed those who are in need. Nor do I have a problem with educating everyone as to what constitutes a healthy diet. But providing food stamps to those with an income of 185 percent of the U.S. Poverty Income Guidelines (about $41,348 a year for a family of four), or teaching nutrition to a man “working on a master’s degree in health care administration”? Come on. Those folks need to look at their priorities, not government handouts.

Of course, the people running the program are concerned that not enough people are applying for WIC benefits and so are “extolling program benefits through a media blitz.” Their concern is not that those in true need are not aware of the program; their concern is, “The funds designated for WIC spending will be lost and will shrink if more eligible families don’t enroll.”

Seems to me that if enough people do not feel the need for the program, then at least part of that $6.7 billion could be used to help out with the national debt crisis. Or is that too radical a thought?

Barrie MacConnell

Coeur d’Alene