The big story on the front page of the Washington Post on March 17 is
the same one we’ve been talking about locally: the SNAP program.
But instead of looking into the couple dozen poor people who seem like they scamming the system, the Post took a different angle: a third of Woonsocket is on food stamps and the local economy ebbs and flows with as does their dispersal.
But instead of looking into the couple dozen poor people who seem like they scamming the system, the Post took a different angle: a third of Woonsocket is on food stamps and the local economy ebbs and flows with as does their dispersal.
Food stamps, not job creators, are driving growth there. In other words, the private sector has failed Woonsocket.
This is not a scoop. Rhode Island has known for a long time that
the cities with a lot of factories are the places that suffered the most when
factory jobs left Rhode Island. So now Woonsocket, Central Falls, West Warwick,
Pawtucket and Providence – the cities with the most factories – are all
failing.
I firmly believe this is the biggest reason for Rhode Island’s
economic mess and the most important issue facing the state. Not pensions or
payday loans. Not high-stakes testing or binding arbitration. Not equitable
taxes on businesses or their CEOs. Not welfare fraud and not corporate welfare.
And not even the master lever or marriage equality.
I think Ken Block would do Rhode Island a great service by
asking Chafee if he could use his considerable efforts and energy to look into
why one in three people in Woonsocket can’t afford to feed themselves and why
public sector assistance programs are driving the economy there.
Bob Plain is the editor/publisher of Rhode Island's Future. Previously, he's
worked as a reporter for several different news organizations both in Rhode
Island and across the country.
