Rick Santorum: US is obese so why do we need food stamps?

Speaking in Iowa, Rick Santorum promised to reduce federal funding for food stamps, saying the nation’s increasing obesity rates make the program unnecessary:

Santorum told the group he would cut the food stamp program, describing it as one of the fastest growing programs in Washington, D.C.

“If hunger is a problem in America, then why do we have an obesity problem among the people who we say have a hunger program?” Santorum asked.

The cost of the food stamp program has grown not because of overeating, but because more Americans are out of work and wages are down.

Recent data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that nearly “70 percent households that relied on food stamps last year had no earned income,” although many households did benefit from Social Security benefits and other government programs. But a whopping 20 percent of households had no cash income at all last year.

In addition,the food stamp program has been critical for reducing poverty and pumping money into local economies during the down economy, so cutting it now would not only take food out of peoples’ mouth but could slow down the economic recovery.