By Anthony Jerrod

Let's preserve teachers' jobs and provide much-needed Medicare funding to the states. I don't think that many people in America would disagree with this noble thought, with the exception of some right-wing extremists. To them, saving teachers' jobs is some type of conspiracy and covert form of socialism. This evening, Senator Harry Reid (D-Nev.) attached an amendment to the EduJobs Bill that includes $10 billion in funding for teachers' jobs and $16.1 billion in funding for the Federal Medical Assistance Percentages (FMAP) to the states. The bill is proposed to be offset by closing foreign tax credit loopholes to raise $9 billion, cutting $2 billion from Medicaid drug pricing, making $8.4 billion in spending rescissions and cutting $6.7 billion from the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, or SNAP, formerly known as food stamps. Yes, food stamps.

In the midst of a historic week where Congress passed The Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 to reverse the sentencing disparity relative to crack-cocaine, Democratic leadership has done an about-face with a proposed public policy that mirrors the hearts of aloof and indifferent Republicans. For those whose hearts on centered on the poor, downtrodden and the oppressed, this bill will be a big blow if it passes on this upcoming Monday. The passage of this amendment would be the diametric opposite of progression toward social justice.

There are nearly 40 million Americans who receive federal assistance from the SNAP, and even more individuals will be the benefactors of this program as the economy and unemployment remains relatively stagnant. According to a 2009 New York Times research article, "One in eight Americans and one in four children are using food stamps and the program rate is growing at 20,000 people a day." In 1939, Milo Perkins, who is credited as being the first administrator of the food stamp program, once made an extremely profound statement during its development. Perkins stated, "We got a picture of a gorge, with farm surpluses on one cliff and under-nourished city folks with outstretched hands on the other. We set out to find a practical way to build a bridge across that chasm." Fast forward to 2010, it appears that the chasm is widening in lieu of shrinking, and we are reverting back to the significant cuts made to SNAP under the Reagan administration.

Most astute public policy experts know that federal assistance programs, such as SNAP, embody wasteful elements. But, in an economy that is still suffering from the recession, do we really want to make such significant cuts to one benevolent program to assist Medicare and teacher jobs- two extremely important facets of our society that should always be protected. It would be nice if Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, can commence concrete actions in taxing the Big Oil companies. How about the private plane trips and unnecessary earmarks? Maybe, we can retrieve a significant amount of the money from the Wall Street CEOs and senior management who received enormous bonuses, while the country suffered? Although I am not the best mathematician, it appears that these cutbacks and taxes would yield enough money to preclude the proposed cuts to SNAP.