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SNAP cuts will stretch communities and challenge assumptions

Forty-seven million people took advantage of the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program in 2012, but a proposal to cut $40 billion from the program could

Forty-seven million people took advantage of the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program in 2012, but a proposal to cut $40 billion from the program could leave between 4 and 6 million people without that help. Why punish people who are struggling? The Food Bank For New York City’s Margarette Purvis, author Sasha Abramsky, Columbia University professor Dorian Warren, and The American Prospect’s Monica Potts joined host Melissa Harris-Perry to discuss why the Republican conception of who makes up "the poor" is wrong and designed to hurt and shame families and elderly Americans.

About 100,000 people on food stamps in each congressional district, Abramsky pointed out, which makes the attitude of congressional leaders even more baffling. Representatives like House Majority Leader Eric Cantor are ignoring the needs of their own constituents.

"Forty billion dollars is not a cut that you can say belongs to 'those people,'" said Purvis. "It will impact all of us." People don't seek out food stamps, "this should be the last stop" for people, she said, not the first.

Watch the Saturday discussion above.