Food Stamps

According to the New York Times article food stamp usage is not only increasing but also becoming more socially acceptable.

Currently 1 out of 8 adults and 1 out of 4 children use food stamps. Looking at the accompanying map shows that most of the usage of food stamps is concentrated in the South East, but also parts of Texas, California, Oregon and Main are heavy users. It was also reported that half of all Americans used food stamps before they turned 20.

I'm conflicted when it comes to programs such as food stamps. I believe that we absolutely need a basic social safety net because everyone should at least be able to have something to eat but at the same time the program needs to be structured so that it doesn't encourage people to stay on the program indefinitely and thus create a long term burden on the workers who pay taxes to fund the program.