You can thank billionaire Ross Perot, among others, for transforming the paper Food Stamps food assistance program into the Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) plastic credit card-like set-up we have today. Now we are getting another euphemistic treat--the phrase "Food Stamps" is being down-sized, phased out because The Man is no longer dropping pieces of paper that dramatically (embarrassed) set us Food Stamps users apart from other shoppers in stores that take/took them.
The Feds call it SNAP: Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program. These states also use that acronym: AR, CT, DC, GA, HI, IL, KY, LA, MA, MS, MT, ND, NE, NM, NV, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VA, WV, WY.
Delaware, Maryland and Maine call it "Food Supplement Program". Alaska, Idaho, Indiana, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York and Utah call it SNAP FSP ("Food Stamps Program"). Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan and Ohio call it FAP ("Food Assistance Program"). Recently a Facebook friend invented a new curse word: Fap. I decided it was my favorite new word (although "oilcano" ties it...). Fap. Fap fap fap. It has a nice sound. Not.
San Francisco and the State of California call their piece of the Federal Food (Stamps) assistance program "CalFresh", to emphasize that a healthy diet includes fruits and vegetables. Duh. Arizona, Minnesota, North Carolina, Vermont, Washington State and Wisconsin are in the "other" category too.
Alphabet soup anybody? The infamous Blackwater, whose mercenaries soldiers blacked its eyes repeatedly in Afghanistan and Iraq, renamed itself "Xe". Everyone wants to reinvent themselves. Just call me "Bob" from now on. Really!
Why is this important? Brand name recognition is everything. "Food Stamps" was a universal phrase that everyone knew and used, and everyone will still be using (on the streets, at least, for a while, until we've been slapped around, I mean--made hip to the necessity of change.... Obama's favorite word). Bill Clinton dropped a big hammer on Welfare recipients, out-doing the Republicans endless zeal to demonize, fetishize, and traumatize poor people. Obama joined the parade. Big surprise.
Why do this (other than to confuse us even more about what to expect from The Man)? My main guess is so that all 50 states can confuse the Federal Government, and the Federal Government can return the favor, and the annual Budget Brawls in City Halls, State Legislatures, and on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC will continue to be excellent examples of lawmakers and lobbyists selling road maps to bridges to nowhere.