Editorials / Opinion

Welfare for the rich

Thank you for printing the article about what has happened with food stamps and the farm bill. [“A food-stamp fight over values,” page one, July 18.]

It is important for the American people to understand that many Republicans in our government, and our country, do not think that poor people have the right to food. This is shocking, and shameful, given their eagerness to hand generous farm subsidies to mostly rich agribusinesses.

This says to me that poor people should just starve, while the rich should get even more for doing less. Apparently, while welfare for the poor is bad and wrong, welfare for the rich is just fine.

I hope Americans will remember this awful injustice in the next election.

Diane Bowers, Shoreline

The wealthy prosper

The recession’s job losses disproportionately affected the economically disadvantaged. The wealthy have done well, with the stock market now at record highs. It shouldn’t be a surprise that this food stamp kerfuffle happens when we note that Congress is full of wealthy people.

If our legislators looked for ways to enable the less wealthy to support themselves, rather than enacting legislation to benefit the wealthy, the need for food stamps would fall.

Part of the problem is the way that we fund our elections for Congress, which makes it more likely that the wealthy are elected, and that those elected are more beholden to their donors than to the people they represent.

If we don’t speak up to our elected representatives, nothing will change, and the gap between the wealthy and the rest of us will further widen, endangering our democracy.

Larry Donohue, Seattle