Nothing But a Publicity Stunt

Since SNAP benefits are designed to be supplemental benefits hence the name, this effort by some congresspeople is just a publicity stunt. Of course nobody can live on SNAP benefits alone because you are expected to make up the difference.

Many people don't have the money to make the difference, and many people do not collect the full food stamp benefit each month. It's all based on income and expenses. If you have no rent or utilities to pay, you are not going to get the full benefit. If you have any income at all and can't pay rent and utilities, you can't get the full benefit. If you make more than $1211 a month, hardly enough to get out of poverty, you will get either $16 a month or you will get nothing.

Many if not most adults who qualify for SNAP work, but they don't make enough they can't rely on it.

Lee detailed the tough decisions she made grocery shopping — butter and milk were outside her budget and a McDonalds value menu item will count as her midweek break — in a blog post. “What I’m thinking about most during this trip is that I’m shopping only for myself,” she wrote, comparing the difficult decisions now to when she needed public assistance as a single mother. “When I was a young, single mother, I was on public assistance. It was a bridge over troubled water, and without it, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I spent hours debating what to buy and what to skip, all the while keeping my sons in my mind.” Many Americans receiving SNAP benefits are under 18 years old and live in working households.

It's better for people to demonize SNAP recipients as "bums."