Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Redfairen

(1,276 posts)
Thu Jan 16, 2014, 06:28 PM Jan 2014

You don't have ID? Well, no food stamps for you!

Food stamp recipients will have their grocery store humiliation compounded by having to show a photo ID in order to buy food if Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) gets his way.

Under a bill Vitter introduced Wednesday, beneficiaries of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) would be denied their food if they are unable to show a photographic identification card at the register. For millions of low-income Americans who don’t have an official photo ID and can’t necessarily afford to buy one, Vitter’s bill would mean being cut off from their primary food source.

Estimates of how many people are without the kind of ID Vitter wants to require are a bit fuzzy, as researchers have tended to focus on the issue in the context of voting rights, but multiple surveys have found that around 10 percent of the voting public doesn’t have a state-issued ID. One survey of voting-age citizens in 2006 put the ID-less proportion of the population at 11 percent, meaning that more than 21 million people nationwide likely lack photo ID, and found that one in four African-Americans surveyed had no ID.

The press release offers no indication that Vitter’s bill would help provide IDs for those who need them, as many states do with voter ID cards. But even if even if everyone could easily get an identification card, his bill would still heap additional humiliation on poor, hungry people.

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/01/16/3174021/vitter-photo-food-stamps/

4 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
You don't have ID? Well, no food stamps for you! (Original Post) Redfairen Jan 2014 OP
Papers please. Downwinder Jan 2014 #1
Vitter is lowlife scum no better than the stain on my shoe. kairos12 Jan 2014 #2
How many people don't have the ID proposed is a bit fuzzy. Igel Jan 2014 #3
Just another layer of red tape Proud Liberal Dem Jan 2014 #4

Igel

(35,362 posts)
3. How many people don't have the ID proposed is a bit fuzzy.
Thu Jan 16, 2014, 07:48 PM
Jan 2014

So the article unfuzzies it. "State-issued photo ID" is what's discussed.

Maybe that's what's proposed. Text of the bill hasn't reached Thomas yet from the GPO as of this posting. Title just says "photo ID" and most other accounts don't make assumptions as to what the text says.

Of greater weight than "not having photo ID" is not having currently valid ID. Lots of people get ID. Then they move--or have no fixed residence--without updating their ID. '

I've used expired ID for my mother lots of times, though. Her DL may have died years ago, and her passport years before that, but most places still accept them for most purposes (but obviously not for driving or transiting international borders).

Proud Liberal Dem

(24,445 posts)
4. Just another layer of red tape
Fri Jan 17, 2014, 07:36 AM
Jan 2014

From the party that spends most of their time railing against......red tape (for businesses and wealthy contributors that is, of course).

Latest Discussions»Retired Forums»2016 Postmortem»You don't have ID? Well, ...