Letter To The Editor

By Cynthia Jones, Board of Trustees

Letter To The Editor, Philadelphia  Inquirer

People struggling to feed families

I was appalled by the proposed new Department of Public Welfare rules that will make the amount of food stamps people can receive contingent on having assets of $2,000 or less for those under the age of 60. Having a car or a home is exempted, but it's hard to maintain these assets if you're unemployed. How shortsighted and cruel this proposed rule is, especially when we are struggling to come out of a recession and many people are still unemployed and struggling to feed their families. The rate of fraud in the food stamp program is one half of one percent and 30 percent of eligible people have not even applied for this assistance.

Gov. Corbett takes away what people need and tries to give them what they don't need or want. Two examples: A voter photo ID law that will cost millions to implement and an insistence that companies making millions from drilling should not be taxed. At the same time, school funding is dramatically reduced and now availability to food aid is on the chopping block.

Cynthia Jones, Warminster