FOOD STAMP-EDE: “Let Them Eat Hope”

A modern play on a quote from Marie Antoinette, another world leader renowned for material excesses in the face of a struggling populace, is slowly gaining steam.  And, sadly for Colorado families, the saying is just as relevant here as it is in other states struggling under Obama’s failed economic policies.  Since Obama’s election, the number of people on food stamps in Colorado has risen by an amazing 84.5 percent.

In nearly every month since Obama took office, Colorado has grown its food stamp rolls.  With advertisements for food stamps on television, radio, and city buses, it almost seems inevitable.  Considering the Democrats who control the state legislature will not even restrict welfare payments from being pulled out of machines in strip clubs, it’s not shocking.

A dramatic rise in food stamp usage is a dangerous precedent on several levels.  The first, and most obvious, it means Colorado’s families are struggling.  Additionally, these expensive transfers put an additional strain on an already stretched budget.  But perhaps equally damaging is a certain long term implication of this trend, and that is government dependency.

Given these astonishing numbers and the long term psychological impact of government dependence, more transparency on how long people stay on the food stamp rolls is worth examining.  Just how many households have needed this benefit for so long that the only reasonable explanation is that it has become a permanent part of the family’s budget?

Governor John Hickenlooper, President Barack Obama, and other Democratic leaders have been telling us that we are in an economic recovery, but the wild expansion of their welfare state tells a different story.