Developments with Syria, Russia leave President Obama looking presidential
September 13, 2013 5:30PM
President Barack Obama shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin during arrivals for the G-20 summit at the Konstantin Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2013. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais/Pool)
Updated: September 15, 2013 2:34AM
I cringe every time I hear someone say that Russian President Vladimir Putin has somehow saved President Obama or given him a way out. How have we allowed ourselves to think so dismissively of our president? It was Obama who forced Putin to the reconciliation table. Hasn’t Putin up until now been a hindrance to the safeguarding of these horrific weapons in the hands of a country that refused to sign the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention? Didn’t Syria’s Bashar Assad deny for years that they had such weapons? Now Syria has not only agreed to sign the weapons treaty, but has also agreed to turn its non-existent weapons over to the international community. Assad and Putin have been dragged out, on their knees, into the light of public accountability by our president. Without a shot being fired! Of course, we now have to work out the details and make sure that these offers from Putin and Assad are followed through on, but we are at a point now that we should celebrate. This is a great victory for our president and our country. He stood up strong, against the spread of this particular craziness. And won.
Paul Norrington, Lawndale
Welfare reform needed
Targeting the food stamp program is not only justified, it is necessary. Several key issues exist with SNAP, centered on eligibility, waste and abuse. One of the major issues affecting eligibility standards for SNAP is the use of categorical eligibility to determine who receives benefits. In the states using categorical eligibility, recipients are determined not by the set income and asset limitations of SNAP, but by participation in other cash welfare assistance programs, which can have lesser eligibility standards. Another issue that has inflated the number of food stamp recipients is the funding structure used by SNAP. Under the current funding structure, states are given an incentive to increase the number of participants in SNAP, as the money they receive automatically increases as more people enroll.
Reforms to the SNAP program to ensure that recipients are both truly eligible and actively seeking work are needed. Wasting thousands of dollars to fraud and abuse helps no one, especially the poor.
Matthew Glans The Heartland Institute
Keep SNAP program fully funded
Thank you for the Sept. 9 editorial “Targeting of food stamp program is hard to swallow.” AgeOptions, the suburban Cook County Area Agency on Aging, is proud of the work we do to support nutritional health for older people through our support of community-based home-delivered meals and luncheon programs. We also are deeply invested in the issue of economic security. We connect eligible seniors and people with disabilities with income and other support programs necessary to their living independent and in their own communities. We know that programs like SNAP (formerly known as food stamps) make the difference between an older adult continuing to live independently at home, or having to move into a more restricted setting.
It troubles us that more than 13 percent of Illinois residents are food insecure. This means that 13 of 100 Illinois residents face challenges to their health because of poor access to healthy foods. Our partners at the Greater Chicago Food Depository tell us that the southern Cook County suburbs are some of the hardest hit communities with food insecurity rates at 34 percent in Harvey, 38 percent in Phoenix, 39 percent in Robbins and 48 percent in Ford Heights. As the costs of medication, property taxes and health care increase, seniors specifically find themselves unable to make ends meet. It is often healthy eating that is sacrificed. By securing SNAP benefits, older adults and people with disabilities on fixed incomes have the resources to purchase food, and the opportunity to build economic security with their monthly income.
Additionally, SNAP dollars strengthen communities. Every $1 in food assistance benefits generates $1.80 in local economic activity. According to the USDA-Food and Nutrition Service, Illinois seniors living alone receive on average $109 per month in SNAP benefits. Annualized, SNAP recipients are contributing more than $2,300 to the local economy.
Older adults and people with disabilities do not want to rely on food stamps; they have to because they can’t survive without them. We urge Congress to continue full funding for SNAP for people who deserve to have food security.
Maribeth Stein
Community Engagement and Benefits Access Coordinator
AgeOptions
