Our View: Getting it wrong

Fortunately there is time to make adjustments to the $1 trillion mash up known as the Farm Bill. The version accepted by Congress contains many flaws.

It was imperative that Congress passed such a measure after stalling on the project last year, leaving producers, consumers and the food-related industry in limbo. And there is much to like in the delayed bill, including provisions to end direct payments (more commonly known as subsidies).

But some in Congress won massive cuts—worth some $20.5 billion—to the food stamp program. In addition, the body has indicated it will bar anyone convicted of a crime from receiving food stamps.

On the surface this would seem a politically safe and acceptable measure. With close to 48 million Americans relying to a greater or lesser extent of government help to put food on their tables, the program now costs over $74 billion. The small percentage of food stamp recipients who abuse the privilege shows the need for reform. And there is certain logic to the idea that government support curbs some of the incentive to reenter the job market.

Yet the timing could not be worse, even from a Congress recognized for poor decisions and noted for its low approval ratings.

Poverty rates have been on the rise since the start of the Great Recession while the once thriving middle class withers. After years of economic woe and jobless recovery, around 12 million Americans remain out of work. More than 40 percent of these fit into the long term unemployed category, idled for over six months.

These are not people who abuse the program. They simply need the help, and the minimum a democratic nation should provide an assurance that everyone will have access to food. Even worse, the idea barring those convicted of crime from applying for stamps may violate the Founding Fathers’ concerns over “cruel and unusual punishment.” Its inclusion in the bill would open the measure to costly legal challenges.

Yes, the food stamp program could use a little thoughtful reform—like so many federal programs. What Congress included in the Farm Bill is not thoughtful reform.