I have a really hard time believing that this caller on Washington Journal has actually been talking to anyone receiving food stamps. The topic on C-SPAN's morning call-in show was the budget cuts being proposed by the House Republicans and the question for their callers was "What if any programs would you like to see cut from the federal budget"?
After host Peter Slen read off more of some of the cuts being proposed by the GOP, he got this response from an "Independent" caller in John Boehner's district in Ohio.
SLEN: Lee in Cincinnati Ohio on our Independent line, what if anything from the federal budget would you cut Lee?
CALLER LEE: Um, I believe it would be the food stamps. Um...
SLEN: Why?
CALLER LEE: Well uh... I know quite a few people on food stamps and when I talk to them or I go over to their house, some of them are eating steak, crab legs and I believe they should have more of a program like the WIC, you know there's only certain food items you're allowed to buy. It'd be cheese, milk, some cereals. You know, I don't believe you should be allowed to buy any luxury food items you want.
SLEN: Alright, hey Lee, you're from Cincinnati, how much coverage is Speaker Boehner getting in his home town area?
CALLER LEE: Um... he's getting quite a bit of coverage.
SLEN: What do you think of about him?
CALLER LEE: Um... I actually... um... like him a lot.
SLEN: Thanks for calling in this morning. What do you do in Cincinnati?
CALLER LEE: I'm a um... small business owner.
SLEN: What kind of business?
CALLER LEE: It's a roofing company.
SLEN: How's business?
CALLER LEE: It's quite good actually.
SLEN: Good. Thanks for calling in.
Everyone I know who has ever depended on food stamps to get by clipped coupons and made sure the money they spent on food went as far as possible and they surely weren't buying steak and crab legs or they'd have been starving for the rest of the week. This "Independent" caller sounds like he's living in some alternate reality called right-wing world.
