‘SNAP Challenge’ shows plenty of room to cut unsustainable
levels of spending
‘Nothing tastes better than debunking liberalism.’
‘If liberals don’t like the results they shouldn’t have issued
the challenge.’
WASHINGTON -- After going a full week on less than the $4.50
a day in food laid out by the “SNAP Challenge,” Donny Ferguson, communications
director and agriculture policy advisor to Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX 36,) is
declaring himself “The Undisputed 2013 SNAP Challenge Champion.”
“Nothing tastes better than debunking liberalism. I proved there’s still lots of room to cut unsustainable
welfare spending and still have filling, delicious meals. The SNAP Challenge is a great tool to show
how much savings we can find in the budget,” said Ferguson. “The only thing Democrats proved is they can’t
budget or control spending. Their only
defense is to trash the SNAP Challenge as an unrealistic publicity stunt.”
“If liberals don’t like the results they shouldn’t have
issued the challenge. I’m not aware of who
else successfully completed all seven days, and I doubt any of them fed
themselves as fiscally responsibly as I did,” said Ferguson. “I’ve been broke much of my life so it’s not
much of a lifestyle change.”
“If liberals cared about the poor they’d stop their agenda
of tax hikes and regulations that kill jobs and make food more expensive. If liberals really cared they’d stop creating
punishing inflation by supporting Audit The Fed and other measures to stop the
Federal Reserve’s reckless inflationary policies,” said Ferguson.
Without a shopping list or coupons, over the week Ferguson
fed himself filling meals for seven days for a final total of around $26.40,
less than the $31.50 weekly budget issued by the SNAP Challenge and less than
his original $27.58 budget. He gained
only one pound and lost one percent body fat.
“I cut the SNAP Challenge Budget by about 16 percent without
the hysterics of overdramatic political activists agitating for more government
control,” said Ferguson. “The proposed
Food Stamp Bill didn’t cut spending, it dramatically increases it. Overall spending on food stamps would have
skyrocketed well beyond the increased rates of suffering we’ve seen under Obama.”
“Liberals are using unsustainable levels of welfare spending
as vote-buying programs. They terrorize the poor and vulnerable with
fictionalized tales of disaster if they don’t deliver their votes,” said
Ferguson. “It’s abusive to the poor,
it’s abusive to the taxpayer, it’s abusive to our system of free elections and
it’s put us on a path to fiscal suicide.”
For the first five days of the Challenge Ferguson stuck to a
daily diet budget of $3.94 a day. That’s
a 12 percent cut to the Challenge’s claimed $4.50 a day in Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.
Unplanned travel took Ferguson out of town for the last two
days. There, Ferguson purchased two days
worth of food, including meat and fresh fruit, for $6.70, less than the $9.00
allowed over two days. He spent the
remainder of the SNAP Challenge two-day budget on canned food donated to a
local food bank.
For $6.70 Ferguson bought two apples, two bananas, two large
bowls of noodles, two bowls of pre-cooked rice and three cans of pre-cooked
meat.
All remaining untouched food will be donated to a D.C. area
food bank.
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