The Food Stamp President

In another example of how far off the rails the American conservative movement has gone, the Economist, a pretty conservative publication, takes Newt Gingrich to task for his latest demagoguery, calling President Obama “the Food Stamp President” and claiming that he has “put” more people on food stamps that any president in history.

Here’s the conservative Economist’s take:

Of course, Barack Obama has put no one on food stamps. Population growth together with the most severe recession since the advent of the modern American welfare state, which was in full swing when Mr Obama came into office, conspired to make a record number eligible for government food assistance. The Obama administration has moved to expand eligibility for the SNAP programme, but the initiative has not come to fruition. That there is a safety net, and that it succeeds in keeping millions of Americans from the misery and humiliation of hunger, may be an uncomfortable fact for Mr Gingrich, but not for Mr Obama or for any of those among us who do not lament this humane achievement.

Imagine.  A conservative supporting a “humane achievement” by government.  Sounds so foreign.  I guess they are all European socialists across the Atlantic.

Category: Politics