Update: According to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, 175,000 households will lose SNAP benefits.
I’m sure the Allyson Schwartz campaign will send out some bullshit excuse on why she voted for the Farm Bill, that cut $8.7 billion from the SNAP program, and I’m sure that her campaign will say something along the lines:
Representative Schwartz wanted to take a vote that shows leadership, and that a bill to fund the SNAP program will be ultimately brought up in 2014, 2016 or 2022 when new gerrymandering takes place, but it’ll happen sooner or later.
Keystone Politics pointed out earlier in the week that Allyson Schwartz would sign a completely useless CHIP bill if it were to come to her desk if she is governor, and as Jon Geeting points out, this CHIP bill would be completely useless if Corbett, or Schwartz, were to accept Medicaid Expansion.
Today, the House passed the 2014 Farm Bill 251 to 166.
162 Republicans voted for it. 63 voted against it.
103 Democrats voted against it. 89 voted for it.
The Farm Bill contains $8.7 billion in cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps. This translates to a $90 per month cut to beneficiaries. This cut follows November’s $5 billion cut from the program, the “hunger cliff”that the Democrats themselves created.
The deal also restricts the USDA from “advertising the SNAP program through [TV], radio and billboard advertisements.”
Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, and Debbie Wasserman Schultz all voted for the bill.
14 members of the Progressive Caucus voted for it: Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Corinne Brown (FL-05), Andre Carson (IN-07), Emanuel Cleaver (MO-05), Sam Farr (CA-20), Lois Frankel (FL-22), Marcia Fudge (OH-11), Steven Horsford (NV-04), Jared Huffman (CA-02), Dave Loebsack (IA-02), Ben Lujan (NM-03), Rick Nolan (MN-08), Bennie Thompson (MS-02), and Peter Welch (VT).
Two gubernatorial candidates–Allyson Schwartz (PA-13) and Mike Michaud (ME-02) voted for it.
Three senatorial candidates–Bruce Braley (IA-01), Colleen Hanabusa (HI-01), and Gary Peters (MI-09)–voted for it.
This is just another bad vote by Allyson Schwartz who is looking more and more like a Third Way, New Democratic, centrist she’s always been since she’s been in Congress.
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