Tipsheet

Jon Stewart Attempts to "Slay" Food Stamp Fraud Allegations; Misses Real Point

On Tuesday, Jon Stewart attempted to "slay" arguments regarding food stamp fraud on The Daily Show. In the video, Stewart spoke about the supposed hypocrisy of conservatives criticizing food stamp usage using a collection of Fox News videos.

When taken at face value, the comments may actually seem quite hypocritical. However, Stewart misses the real point: some items that can be purchased with SNAP ("food stamps") completely lack nutritional value, or are "luxury" foods like lobsters, steak, and organic salmon that don't really present an economically-friendly meal choice for someone who has trouble paying for food without government assistance. Also, Stewart didn't mention the fact that "food stamps" are actually referred to now as SNAP funds--SNAP being an acronym that stands for "Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program." The program is not intended nor designed to cover an entire food budget.

Taxpayers should be upset that their well-intentioned dollars to prevent the poor from starvation are able to be spent on unhealthy food. That's the real controversy.