On 03-19-13, BOB KLAHN said to BILL MCGARRITY:   
      
   BM>   Re: RE-Listing The Echo   
   BM>   By: TIM RICHARDSON to BILL MCGARRITY on Thu Mar 14 2013   
   BM>   10:27:00   
      
   BM> OK... this is going to be fun.....   
      
      
   TR>> It was a `liberal' court that *found* abortion in the Constitution. It   
      
      
   BK>Li   
      
      
   Here's an interesting revelation; `US-Mexican food satmp partnership'?   
      
      
   We are so deep in debt our childrens' childrens' children will still be paying   
   on the debt...and part of our outlay is a give-away to another country that   
   plays us for fools; Mexico!   
      
      
      
   Dems preserve US-Mexico food stamp 'partnership,' while USDA prepares for meat   
   inspector furloughs   
      
      
   Published March 18, 2013   
      
      
   FoxNews.com   
      
      
   AP   
      
      
   Salmonella outbreaks. E. coli outbreaks. Millions of dollars in economic   
   losses.   
      
      
   These are among the scenarios the Obama administration warned about last month   
   as it claimed the sequester would force the U.S. Department of Agriculture to   
   furlough meat inspectors.   
      
      
   But while the administration prepares to take that step, it continues to   
   pursue a "partnership" with the Mexican government to "raise awareness" about   
   food stamps among immigrants from that country. When a top Senate Republican   
   proposed cutting off funds for that program last week -- in the form of an   
   amendment to a budget resolution -- Democrats on the Budget Committee shot it   
   down.   
      
      
   It's hard to put a firm price on the cost of the partnership, which was   
   launched under the George W. Bush administration. But an aide to Sen. Jeff   
   Sessions, R-Ala., who has railed against the partnership for months, said it   
   could easily be in the millions. Since 2004, the program has blossomed to   
   include dozens of meetings and conferences and health fairs with Mexican   
   officials -- all of which cost money, not to mention the cost to the food   
   stamp program of new enrollees brought in as a result of this partnership.   
      
      
   Sessions, in a statement to FoxNews.com, said he believes the public will   
   eventually demand an end to the program, though the Senate Budget Committee   
   allowed it to continue in the vote last week.   
      
      
   "We have uncovered extensive evidence that federal authorities have -- during   
   the Bush and Obama administrations -- aggressively undermined a core legal   
   tenet of immigration policy: that those granted admission should be self-   
   sufficient and contribute to the economic health of the nation," Sessions   
   said. "It is amazing that Budget Committee Democrats would unanimously vote to   
   continue funding these costly promotions, especially when our debt is causing   
   such profound economic harm."   
      
      
   According to a letter from Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to Sessions last   
   September, the "partnership" since 2004 has included roughly 91 meetings   
   between U.S. and Mexico embassy and consulate staff; 29 health fair events;   
   and 31 roundtable discussions, conferences and forums in 20 cities.   
      
      
   Twenty percent of the meetings and activities occurred since 2008, according   
   to Vilsack's letter. Sessions is concerned the collaboration amounts to a   
   vehicle for the USDA to pressure people onto the food-stamp rolls -- in this   
   case, noncitizen immigrants from Mexico.   
      
      
   The USDA denies this. In his letter last year, Vilsack said the purpose is "to   
   help eligible people in need make informed decisions about whether or not to   
   seek assistance."   
      
      
   The initiative is one of several the agency has "to promote awareness of   
   nutrition assistance among those who need benefits and meet all program   
   requirements under current law," Vilsack told Sessions in the 24-page letter.   
      
      
   However, his letter indicates the number of legal, noncitizens participating   
   in the program -- now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program --   
   has increased from 425,000 to 1.23 million between 2001 and 2010.   
      
      
   Meanwhile, the USDA continues to press forward with plans to furlough meat   
   inspectors, describing it as a necessity of the sequester -- though the   
   department has eased off a bit on warnings that this could lead to more   
   foodborne illness, since all meat and poultry will still have to be inspected.   
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
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