New GOP Bill Would Require Photo Identification to Use Food Stamps

by Cassy Fiano | February 9, 2015 2:51 pm

Fighting food stamp fraud costs taxpayers a surprising amount of money. So Republican lawmakers have come up with a common sense way to help avoid that fraud: requiring recipients to show photo identification in order to use their food stamps.

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Several GOP lawmakers have proposed a new bill that would require photo identification to use food stamps.

Arguing that taxpayers lose $858 million a year on food stamp fraud, they say the bill will ensure that food stamp benefits actually belong to the person who is using them by requiring retailers to check the photo ID of a person every time they attempt to use the federal program.

One of the co-sponsors, Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-OK), joined Tucker Carlson on “Fox and Friends” this morning to explain his support of the bill.

“I think it’s perfectly appropriate when the taxpayers are losing almost a billion dollars a year to fraud in the SNAP program – which is the food stamp program. I think it’s perfectly appropriate to require a low hurdle like an ID,” Bridenstine said.

He explained it doesn’t even have to be a driver’s license. It can be any card that has a picture ID on it, such as a library card.

With 46.2 million Americans on food stamps, 50 percent of the USDA Office of the Inspector General’s resources go to fighting food stamp fraud. There were over 551 convictions in 2013 alone.

Opponents say that poor people may not be able to get photo ID, which is beyond condescending and patronizing — oh, those dumb poor people, they’re too stupid to figure out how to get some form of photo ID, right? Meanwhile, one has to wonder if these poor idiots can’t figure out how to get a photo ID, how it is they’re able to sign up for food stamps to begin with.

Endnotes:
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