Originally published May 21, 2007 at 12:00 AM | Page modified May 21, 2007 at 2:00 AM
Editorial
The 21 club in Congress
Lawmakers in Congress scrimping on $21 worth of groceries a week can find better ways to learn about the inadequacies...
Lawmakers in Congress scrimping on $21 worth of groceries a week can find better ways to learn about the inadequacies of the federal food-stamp program.
The Food Stamp Challenge taken by four House members comes off as a stunt. A better choice for the four — Democrats Tim Ryan of Ohio, Janice Schakowsky of Illinois and Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, and Republican Jo Ann Emerson of Missouri — is to tour food banks and drum up votes for a $4 billion increase in the annual food-stamp budget.
The bill, introduced by McGovern and Emerson, would be part of the 2007 Farm Bill. But it isn't a sure thing. The gargantuan farm bill is a bloated edifice stuffed with more pork than a barbecue joint. It remains to be seen whether lawmakers are willing to make fiscal trade-offs to pay for an increase, not just in food stamp benefits, but in spending for the networks that distribute food to 500,000 low-income seniors nationwide.
The formula for computing food-stamp benefits hasn't been adjusted for inflation in more than a decade. As a result, 26 million low-income and elderly Americans rely on food stamps with an average allowance of $3 a day.
The four in Congress are attempting to live like that for a week. But it doesn't take seven days of ramen noodles to grasp the inadequacy of food-stamp benefits.
Rather than highlight a very serious issue, the congressional food pact trivializes it.
Rep. Ryan mourns the eggs he cannot eat because they are unaffordable at $1.29 for a half-dozen. Organic products and fresh vegetables are as out of reach for the four as caviar is for most of us. The worse deprivation: ignoring food at the endless stream of lobbyist lunches, receptions and political fundraisers.
The congressional lawmakers should eat heartily. They'll need the strength — and no small measure of courage — to take a knife to the farm bill and carve out room for boosting the food-stamp program.
Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company
Leonard Pitts Jr. / Syndicated columnist: New York terror trials will restore faith in rule of law
Charles Krauthammer / Syndicated columnist: New York trial a propaganda coup for terrrorists

Real Salt Lake wins MLS Cup
Real Salt Lake defeated the Los Angeles Galaxy with penalty kicks after 120 minutes of play at Qwest Field in Seattle.
general classifieds
Garage & estate salesFurniture & home furnishings
Sporting goods
just listed
8 seat pecon formal dining table and china hutch - $1500
A American Table, Chairs and Bench - $275
ATV POLARIS TRAILBLAZER - $1800
More listings
POST A FREE LISTING
shopping
Give yourself a treat and visit Watson Kennedy's Holiday Open Houses
More minding the store
events for Monday, Nov. 23
- Two-week opening at Midori Inc.
- Sur La Table November sale
- Seattle Premium Outlets Thanksgiving Weekend ...
- 5th Annual Urban Craft Uprising
editors' picks
More shopping guides- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Tugboat sinks at Seattle waterfront pier
- Illegal workers quietly let go
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- Vikings easily beat the Seahawks
- Craigslist adoption ad: A plea by young mother-to-be? A scam?
- Chase shrugs off loss of CD investors
- Woman stabbed by stranger in North Seattle
- Snow piles up on Cascade slopes
- Denny Triangle gains skyline, but tenants slow to come
- Illegal workers quietly let go
252 - Vikings easily beat the Seahawks
166 - Climate change speeds up since 1997 Kyoto accord
162 - Palin excitement builds in Tri-Cities
132 - Metro won't cut bus service after all
125 - Historic health care bill clears Senate hurdle
91 - Tattoos at Mill Creek Church pierce skin, soul
65 - UW, WSU once again meet to see who's worse
59 - Jerry Brewer: Seahawks can't lean on the Hutch Crutch now
59 - Ranking the Pac
53
- Sprouts, raw fish on attorney's 'do not eat' list
- Tattoos at Mill Creek church pierce skin, soul
- Illegal workers quietly let go
- Food-safety lawyer's wish: Put me out of business
- It's possible to recover a life lost to hoarding
- Rediscovering Moab, 'the most beautiful place on Earth'
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- Architects, chefs find 'kid' within to build Gingerbread Village
- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Washington state wines make annual best-of list

