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Food Stamps

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A growing concern for not only the United States government but also for individuals against the large number of beneficiaries to the food stamp program, are felons receiving food stamps. This has been an ongoing and increasing debate over the last few years, especially with the growing number of beneficiaries being added to food stamp rolls every day. The concern is, felons receiving food stamps while individuals who have no criminal record are unable to receive food stamp benefits.

Why are People Against Felons receiving Food Stamps?

For people who do not understand the background to this debate, the question may be why people are against felons receiving food stamps. In fact, people who are for felon rights and felon rehabilitation may find this debate disturbing and a lead-in to increase issues for felons to reenter society after incarceration. The problem that faces the food stamp program and this debate falls within the issue of a felon and their rights when they return into society. The general consensus is that a felon will have an increasingly difficult time finding a job which means they would be on food stamps for a longer period of time.

How Does the Felon and Food Stamp Debate Affect Others?

The felon and food stamp debate may be seen as a debate against felons receiving any kind of assistance. The main issue, however, is not whether or not felons can receive food stamps or if they should be able to receive food stamps. The main issue is the comparison of a felon receiving food stamps versus a citizen who has been laid off of work and has hit rough times. There are situations where a citizen with no criminal background is laid off of work, has a medical issue or has some other issue that may lead them to the food stamp program. In some cases, these people cannot receive food stamps due to their income for the past three months being substantial enough to put them out of the income bracket for the benefit. However, a felon would be able to come out of jail, reenter society, and apply for food stamps because their income for the previous three months has been so low.

This has led people at the center of the felons and food stamp debate to question if a felon has the right to receive food stamps due to their criminal background. In fact, there are several government officials who believe that felons should have no voting rights, no gun rights and no rights to government benefits. There are other government officials who believe that it should depend solely on the felony charge. For example, if the felony charge is for fraudulent checks, drugs or fraudulent actions then they would not be able to receive food stamp benefits. However, this does lead to the question of would rapists and murderers be able to receive food stamp benefits.

The debate is still going on and is being discussed even by government officials working to help the American budget. There is a belief that if felons were denied food stamp benefits, the food stamp program and related programs would be able to save billions of dollars a year.

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