The Food-Stamp G.I.?

Politicians love to rail about our poor, hungry soldiers. The truth, as usual, is more complicated

Sure as a soldier squeezing his M-16 trigger knows a burst of bullets will follow, politicians know that deploring "G.I.s on food stamps" will trigger a burst of applause. Senator John McCain has repeatedly called it a "national disgrace." The presidential front runners have picked up the refrain. Both Vice President Al Gore and Texas Governor George W. Bush have decried the scourge of food stamps for the military and pledged to boost soldiers' pay to end it. "We must eliminate the need for any active-duty families to be eligible for food stamps," Gore declares. "It has to stop, and I...

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