USDA still actively stamping out food stamp fraud
Re: “Daily Outrage: Taxpayers won’t swallow $750 million in Food Stamp fraud,” Feb. 23
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has a zero tolerance policy for fraud and is committed to achieving the highest level of integrity in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program formerly known as food stamps.
SNAP is a critical component of our nation’s safety net against hunger. The stakes are simply too high to let a few bad actors compromise this vital program, which provides nutrition to 46 million people each month, more than half of whom are children, seniors and disabled Americans. The vast majority of retailers and SNAP recipients abide by the rules.
Over the last 15 years, USDA and state governments have successfully reduced the prevalence of SNAP trafficking from 4 percent down to its current level of 1 percent — but no level of fraud is acceptable.
Americans expect and deserve a government that ensures their hard-earned tax dollars are managed with accountability and integrity. We are working diligently to uphold the administration’s commitment to root out fraud and abuse and remove bad actors from the program.
Kevin Concannon
USDA undersecretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services
Washington
Catania can do something about his job frustration
Re: “No swearing rule highlights D.C. Council tensions,” Feb. 22
It has often been said that you cannot legislate morality. That said, the D.C. Council’s ban on swearing is another futile attempt to bring decorum and civility to a body sorely lacking both. Similarly, the recent passage of an extremely weak ethics reform bill adds significantly to the negative view of the council as a whole.
Councilman David Catania, at-large, whose expletive-laced tirade prompted the legislation, had the temerity to state that he is not apologizing for his outburst. This is not surprising, coming from the same councilman who chided former mayoral candidate Sulaiman Brown during a hearing last summer by stating: “Mr. Brown, I have two jobs. You do not have any.”
Catania stated that it is “certainly fascinating we can have a code of conduct on language” while the council remained conspicuously silent concerning the attorney general’s lawsuit against former Councilman Harry Thomas. Attempting to justify his behavior, Catania added that he is frustrated because the council has evolved into a place he doesn’t like.
I respectfully submit to Councilman Catania that he does indeed have recourse. He can abdicate his seat and devote all of his energies to his full-time job.
Marvin E. Adams
Washington
GOP front-runners have a lot in common
Re: “Mosque debate is all about straw men,” Aug. 31
I wonder how many of The Examiner’s Republican readers found themselves chagrined and mortified over their presidential candidates’ latest own-foot-shootings: the pitiably babbling Mitt Romney’s self-characterization as “severely conservative,” and the oblivious Rick Santorum’s needlessly incendiary misuse of the word “theology.”
In Santorum’s case, the worst was yet to come. When a reporter provided the opportunity for Santorum to extricate himself, he failed to come up with a substitute word like “ideology” or “philosophy.”
Romney and Santorum may be far apart in all else, but they are joint front-runners in having limited vocabularies and being politically tone deaf.
Cary Hoagland
Silver Spring
