Let's also not forget the domino effect that "getting rid of the handouts" would cause. It's actually counter intuitive and hurts businesses in poor areas.
That things like EBT/WIC help spur local economies is a very old argument dating back decades. Let's say Bob runs a small grocery store with two other full time employees and seven part timers in a poor part of town. That's ten people working, making money that they will likely put back in to the local economy (as opposed to burying it in offshore bank accounts), and paying taxes. A healthy chunk of Bob's revenue comes from customers buying things with "handouts" who are in turn paying state and local taxes with their purchases-a quiet "handout" if you will from the federal government to state governments.
However, it's an election year and the state and county-level Tea Baggers are beating their war drums on abortion, gay marriage, taxes, and yes, "handouts". Bob's customers are the scum of the earth and living off our tax dollars and not pulling their weight, they say! This kind of talk makes a lot of sense to the white suburban conservatives who live across town, so they put the Tea Partiers in office on a platform of fiscal responsibility and limited government (in actuality all they'll get is a gay marriage ban, voter ID, and new limits on abortion, but who's keeping track?)
Long story short, the conservatives get their pound of flesh and the next budget goes slash and burn on entitlement spending. Bob's store loses customers left and right until he's forced to lay everybody off and close his business. Ten more people are drawing entitlements from an ever dwindling pool.
There's a smart way to get people off the dole, but it takes time and dedication to get it right. "Just cut them off" is a remarkably stupid way to do it.
