If you only read the June 1 headline in Newsday that blared “Thousands of LIers could lose food aid,” you would think that the cruel government is cutting the budget to put needy people out on the street to beg for food.
However, it’s important to read further, because then you’ll see that what’s really at play here is the wise new policy implemented in Washington in 2025 that requires able-bodied individuals without dependents to work or volunteer for 80 hours a month to receive the aid.
All this is doing is basically bringing back the Clinton-era workfare program that worked so successfully in the late 90s.Those workfare requirements were eviscerated in the Obama and Biden administrations. Now they’re back. They’re long overdue.
This isn’t a cut to anyone’s benefits, as the headline suggests. It is simply requiring those receiving food assistance to work or volunteer a mere 20 hours a week instead of sitting on a couch eating potato chips. Not so cruel after all now, is it?
Those who just scroll the headlines are missing the total picture.