Posted by
Mike Bates on Wednesday, January 25, 2012 7:36:33 PM
On the Chicago Tribune's Web site today, columnist Clarence Page writes of "The umbrage card trick."
Page lights into GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich for assorted
misdeeds, one of which is calling Barack Obama a "food stamp president":
Yet Gingrich's food stamp claim is misleading on several counts. For
one, food stamp recipients increased during seven of President George W.
Bush's eight years, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The growth came largely because of policy changes that encouraged more
participation by eligible Americans. But Gingrich is not about to let
details get in the way of a chance to sound offended.
Page asserts Gingrich misleads "on several counts," but then doesn't
cite them. The food stamp program, now known as the Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program, is administered by the Department of
Agriculture. According to its figures,
average food stamp participation during the Bush administration was 17
million in 2001 and increased to 28 million in his last full year as
president. That's certainly nothing to brag about. But during Obama's
three years in office, that number skyrocketed to 44 million by last
year and was more than 46 million last October.
So how is Gingrich misleading on food stamps? He's not. The awkward
truth that Page and other liberals are loathe to admit is that Barack
Obama is the food stamp president. After three years and
trillions of dollars spent on his failed recovery schemes, the economy
remains in shambles.