OPINION:
And leftists say there’s no such thing as a left-leaning media — that media bias is all in conservatives’ heads. Well, look at this headline, from The Washington Post, about the drop in numbers of illegals applying for food stamp benefits: “Immigrants are going hungry so Trump won’t deport them.”
No, really, what is it you’re trying to say?
Another way to tell that same story could be a headline that goes like this: “Taxpayers are feeling relief as Trump turns off entitlement spigot.”
Either way you paint it, the news is good for American citizens.
Barack Obama, after all, did earn the monicker “food stamp president” for his rapid ratcheting of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits. In fact, his administration ushered in a 32 percent jump in food stamp usage over the course of his eights years in office, according to Department of Agriculture data. By the numbers: In 2009, about 33.5 million Americans received food stamps. By the time October 2016 rolled around, that number was up, to 44.1 million.
As far as dollar amounts?
In 2009, taxpayers were shelling out a little more than $50 billion for food stamps. By 2016, that dole-out increased by $16-plus billion, to $66.6 billion.
That’s all government data — no spin there.
You know what is spin, though?
Media outlets that take it on themselves to showcase the poor plight of the immigrant over the hard-working overburdened plight of the taxpayer — as if government existed to provide hand-outs to citizens.
Note to bleeding hearts: In America, the system is free market and the government, by Founding Father intent and constitutional creation, is limited. That means, in America, people are supposed to work for their food — not expect, demand and wait on government, i.e. the people, to provide it.
This is a democratic-republic.
This is not socialism.
And yet, we get this, courtesy of one of America’s largest circulation newspapers — a media outlet that should know better: “Luisa Fortin sometimes sits up at night, wondering what her clients are eating. She is the SNAP Outreach Coordinator for the Chattanooga Food Bank — but lately, she has done less outreaching. Her families, working immigrants in northwest Georgia, are spooked by the political climate, Fortin said. Increasingly, she’s being asked to explain how food stamps may impact immigration status, if not to outright cancel family food benefits.”
You know how that story should have started?
“President Donald Trump’s messaging on border control, the budget and a ’Make America Great Again’ policy push are already having an effect, as food stamp coordinators around the nation report a dwindling of applications and recipients.”
That’s a much better story — one that reflects not only truth in data, but also truth of our government, our founding and our national spirit.
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