They’re cutting food stamps because people are terrible, time to storm the castle.

The Nation reports that Congress will cut food stamp funding during an economic climate where more people are relying on the program than ever before. To which I say, everyone involved in this has a special place reserved in hell. George Zornick wrote about it on Tuesday.

On Monday night, the Senate passed the five-year farm bill that includes $4.1 billion in cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP or Food Stamps) over the next ten years. This means now they just have to decide how much to cut, and it will probably be more than the $4.1 billion. The House Agriculture Committee passed the farm bill last month that cut $20.5 billion from SNAP by removing “categorical eligibility” (a method that forty states employ to make ensure needy families receive food stamps; they are generous rules when compared to straight up starving children), which takes food stamps away from two million Americans and hundreds of thousands of children. *slow clap*

The bill hasn’t been fully debated on the House floor yet, but they will push for even more cuts because Paul Ryan wants to starve children (his 2013 budget called for $135 billion in food stamp cuts). On Tuesday, 25 Republicans wrote to Speaker Boehner to remove food stamp funding all together. They want the SNAP funding to be debated on a different track, but what they really mean is they don’t want to have to agree to just $20.5 billion in food stamp cuts at the risk of killing the farm bill.

Once the House bill passes, it will head to conference committee, and the negotiators will have to reach a consensus figure. It won’t be lower than $4.1 billion. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand introduced a bill last month to block any cuts to food stamps, but only 25 Democrats supported the bill and 0 Republicans. The bill failed 70-26. Senator Debbie Stabenow, chair of the Senate Agriculture committee, defends the cuts as a way to stop “waste, fraud and abuse” in the SNAP program. She urged Democrats to vote against Gillibrand’s bill. Sen. Stabenow said this on the matter, “Every family that currently qualifies for nutrition assistance in this country continues to get that assistance. We do make sure there is integrity in the programs.”

Except that isn’t how this works. The $4.1 billion cuts will eliminate the “Heat and Eat” programs adopted by several states to coordinate low-income heating assistance with SNAP benefits, which allows for a slightly larger benefit. You know who needs to coordinate low-income assistance programs, best make these people file with a lot of different programs. It is better that everything is more confusing and cumbersome.  The Center for American Progress estimates that for every $1 billion cut from SNAP, 13,718 jobs are lost. Awesome, I hope these people don’t need SNAP. So by that calculation this bill will cost 56,243 jobs.

At this point the hope is that House Democrats who pledged to fight food stamp cuts hold their group. But Democrats are like Cleveland sports teams, snatching defeat from victory every time, and they are going to lose this fight. Assuming they even try to fight. Everyone who voted in favor of this bill deserves your disgust, and so do those who are opposed just because they want to cut more from SNAP. Yes, that includes Sens. Brown and Warren who voted in favor of it. In case anyone is wondering, now would be a good time to organize and storm the castle. People use this program because they don't have reliable access to food. Do you get what that means? Access to food.  I'm disgusted this is even up for debate. Especially, given the amount consumed and wasted by the US, but nope, we can't feed the hungry among us. They are lazy and need to get jobs...bullshit. Special hell for everyone involved in this.

Grouped By Vote Position

YEAs ---66
Alexander (R-TN) Baldwin (D-WI) Baucus (D-MT) Bennet (D-CO) Blumenthal (D-CT) Blunt (R-MO) Boozman (R-AR) Boxer (D-CA) Brown (D-OH) Burr (R-NC) Cantwell (D-WA) Cardin (D-MD) Carper (D-DE) Casey (D-PA) Chambliss (R-GA) Chiesa (R-NJ) Coats (R-IN) Cochran (R-MS) Collins (R-ME) Coons (D-DE) Cowan (D-MA) Donnelly (D-IN)	Durbin (D-IL) Feinstein (D-CA) Fischer (R-NE) Franken (D-MN) Gillibrand (D-NY) Graham (R-SC) Grassley (R-IA) Hagan (D-NC) Harkin (D-IA) Heinrich (D-NM) Heitkamp (D-ND) Hirono (D-HI) Hoeven (R-ND) Isakson (R-GA) Johanns (R-NE) Johnson (D-SD) Kaine (D-VA) King (I-ME) Klobuchar (D-MN) Landrieu (D-LA) Leahy (D-VT) Levin (D-MI)	McCaskill (D-MO) Menendez (D-NJ) Merkley (D-OR) Mikulski (D-MD) Moran (R-KS) Murphy (D-CT) Murray (D-WA) Nelson (D-FL) Pryor (D-AR) Reid (D-NV) Rockefeller (D-WV) Sanders (I-VT) Schatz (D-HI) Schumer (D-NY) Shaheen (D-NH) Stabenow (D-MI) Tester (D-MT) Udall (D-NM) Vitter (R-LA) Warren (D-MA) Wicker (R-MS) Wyden (D-OR)

NAYs ---27
Ayotte (R-NH) Barrasso (R-WY) Coburn (R-OK) Corker (R-TN) Cornyn (R-TX) Crapo (R-ID) Cruz (R-TX) Enzi (R-WY) Flake (R-AZ)	Hatch (R-UT) Heller (R-NV) Inhofe (R-OK) Johnson (R-WI) Kirk (R-IL) Lee (R-UT) McConnell (R-KY) Portman (R-OH) Reed (D-RI)	Risch (R-ID) Roberts (R-KS) Rubio (R-FL) Scott (R-SC) Sessions (R-AL) Shelby (R-AL) Thune (R-SD) Toomey (R-PA) Whitehouse (D-RI)

Not Voting - 7
Begich (D-AK) Manchin (D-WV) McCain (R-AZ)	Murkowski (R-AK) Paul (R-KY) Udall (D-CO)	Warner (D-VA)