Slash food stamp funding by $1.2 billion and spend $600 million to implement drug testing for food stamp recipients. That’s what Koch-backed Alabama Rep. Robert Aderholt is proposing in his newest bill,according to the Huffington Post.
You’d think Aderholt’s bill would be in direct conflict with the “well-being” initiatives the Koch brothers have been pushing, such as their “turkey giveaways” and “couponing classes” to “help” America’s poor. However, Koch Industries has already donated $2,000 to Aderholt’s 2016 campaign and gave an additional $2,500 in the 2014 cycle when he was running unopposed.
In reality, the Kochs’ political efforts have hurt America’s most vulnerable again and again. For years, the Koch’s political long arm Americans for Prosperity (AFP) has been advocating for throwing people off the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP):
The “Food Stamps” memo argues that SNAP is “ballooning in size and cost” due to “excessive easing of the program’s eligibility criteria,” while quoting the American Enterprise Institute’s Arthur Brooks arguing that “Restrictions on food stamp purchases have been lightened dramatically” and “we must take care to avoid teaching dependence and encouraging behavior that reduces one’s ability to delay gratification and earn success.”
Koch front-group Generation Opportunity has also worked to cut funding to SNAP. GenOpp even celebrated when Maine Governor Paul LePage — another food stamp drug testing advocate — forced almost 80 percent of recipients off the lifesaving program.
Nearly 45 million Americans rely on food stamps for their next meal, but instead of supporting solutions that will help like raising the minimum wage, the Kochs’ are focused entirely on their image with voters. Why? Because it’s harder to win elections if voters don’t like them. Without winning elections, it’s harder to gain political power. Without political power, the Koch brothers can’t rig the system to boost their bottom line.
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: the Kochs’ “well-being” initiatives are nothing more than a PR stunt to better their image in politically competitive swing states.