Developments with Syria, Russia leave President Obama looking presidential
I cringe every time I hear someone say that Russian President Vladimir Putin has somehow saved President Obama or given him a way out. How have we allowed ourselves to think so dismissively of our president? It was Obama who forced Putin to the reconciliation table. Hasn’t Putin up until now been a hindrance to the safeguarding of these horrific weapons in the hands of a country that refused to sign the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention? Didn’t Syria’s Bashar Assad deny for years that they had such weapons? Now Syria has not only agreed to sign the weapons treaty, but has also agreed to turn its non-existent weapons over to the international community. Assad and Putin have been dragged out, on their knees, into the light of public accountability by our president. Without a shot being fired! Of course, we now have to work out the details and make sure that these offers from Putin and Assad are followed through on, but we are at a point now that we should celebrate. This is a great victory for our president and our country. He stood up strong, against the spread of this particular craziness. And won.
Paul Norrington, Lawndale
Welfare reform needed
Targeting the food stamp program is not only justified, it is necessary. Several key issues exist with SNAP, centered on eligibility, waste and abuse. One of the major issues affecting eligibility standards for SNAP is the use of categorical eligibility to determine who receives benefits. In the states using categorical eligibility, recipients are determined not by the set income and asset limitations of SNAP, but by participation in other cash welfare assistance programs, which can have lesser eligibility standards. Another issue that has inflated the number of food stamp recipients is the funding structure used by SNAP. Under the current funding structure, states are given an incentive to increase the number of participants in SNAP, as the money they receive automatically increases as more people enroll.
Reforms to the SNAP program to ensure that recipients are both truly eligible and actively seeking work are needed. Wasting thousands of dollars to fraud and abuse helps no one, especially the poor.
Matthew Glans The Heartland Institute