Re: “Another government irony,” Aug. 3 Open Forum.
James Firebaugh’s letter on the “irony” of one government agency providing nutritional assistance to families while another posts “Please Don’t Feed the Animals” signs to discourage wildlife dependency is both revolting and misleading. Most food stamp recipients are working but earning less than a living wage. Why don’t they find better jobs? Because Republican trickle-down economics, largely unopposed for decades by Democrats afraid of being called too liberal, don’t create enough of them.
Walmart alone accounts for 15 percent of all food stamp recipients with a $6.2 billion price tag for taxpayers. Underpaid employees are instructed on how to apply for government aid. These subsidized employees then spend much of that assistance at Walmart, accounting for a significant share of its profits. The billionaire owners then contribute to politicians who vilify food stamp recipients. How’s that for irony?
Felice Sage, Littleton
This letter was published in the Aug. 6 edition.James Firebaugh’s letter regarding food stamp recipients being akin to “feeding animals in a national park” was callous, crude, and cruel. These are human beings. To equate being on food assistance to being an animal is beyond reasonable public discourse.
Furthermore, Firebaugh plagiarized his idiotic comment, as they have been an Internet meme for months. If you are going to be a cold-hearted individual, at least be original.
John Busselmaier, Aurora
This letter was published in the Aug. 6 edition.
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