COLUMN: Cutting bridge cards an irrelevant low blow

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The loony Michigan legislature is at it again, blaming the problems of our state on the least among us.

This time it comes in the form of cutting benefits to college students in the form of Bridge Cards, led by Republicans in the Michigan House.

Elected officials have once again proven they are penny-wise and pound-foolish. Instead of focusing on tax credits and tax breaks for big business, or the bloated prison budget which is estimated to be about $2 billion, they are going after Bridge Cards for students.

For perspective, according to the Michigan budget as well as a report by the state Department of Human Services, the annual cost of student food assistance is about $55 million.

This is playing politics at its absolute worst. The fact that prisons get nearly 36 times more funding than student food assistance is irrelevant to the Republican legislature. They know they can score cheap political points by doing this.

Very few people are students. Fewer students vote than the general population and Republicans need a scapegoat for Michigan’s economic woes.

What we get is a recipe for disaster. The Michigan Promise Scholarship has been eliminated, university funding gets cut every year and that cost is passed to students.

Coupled with rising global food prices and parents who are unemployed, you have a situation in which students can barely keep their heads above water. Sadly, many have already drowned.

If food assistance to students is eliminated, it is possible academic performance statewide will drop. A diet composed chiefly of macaroni and cheese and ramen noodles is not conducive to high-quality learning.

These are the future leaders of our state, we do not need them wanting for fresh fruits and vegetables.

Republicans ought to be aware that at the end of the day, they are angering future doctors, lawyers and small business owners who just need a little help while attending university. Within a few years, these people start paying back those programs from which they drew benefits.

When they become more frequent voters and active citizens, you’d better believe students will remember who was on their side while they were getting their education.

A rational solution might be to simply change the name from “Bridge Cards” to “Food Welfare,” so that students know for what they are actually applying. We could ban the purchase of certain high-sodium or high-sugar foods to only allow healthier purchases.

No individual student needs $200 per month for food, so we could reduce benefits to $150 or $100 for more savings.

However, eliminating food assistance altogether is an irresponsible way to save money. There are much larger items in the budget that are actually wasteful.

College students have taken enough deep cuts to their pocketbooks, the last thing they need is a slash to their stomachs.