Bucco, I missed those articles. But if the GOP stands firm on cutting the "farm bill" down to size, I'll be ecstatic! Regardless of how far right some of the members of Congress might be, it's probably not reasonable to expect major reductions in the program. Personally, I wish they would put forward a bill that called for a year-to-year required reduction in expenditures for food stamps, but that might be too much to ask.

The key is to watch what really happens, as opposed to what the GOP calls for in the politicized sound bites. They are in control of this bill and whatever gets passed can only get done "on their watch".

And thanks to dpl and Rubber Bucket for correcting my rather rough arithmetic. With 15% of the population making so little that they need government assistance for survival, that raises a whole other set of questions.

Are the number of families so poor that they need government assistance to feed their families growing? If more and more families need government assistance, then WHY? Have those elected to govern us installed policies that have the effect of creating a "barbell" of income?...growth of the wealthy and poor, with a decline in the middle class?

The economists will tell us that is exactly what's happening. So what is anyone going to do about it?