NitafilAfl Lu;vi ivIENTAP' Watch Bill's honest take on democracy and our times June 28, 2013 Greg Kaufmann on the Truth About American Poverty Greg Kaufmann, poverty correspondent for The Nation, says the poor in America are stereotyped and demonized in an effort to justify huge cuts in food stamps and other crucial programs for low- income Americans. "People are working and they're not getting paid enough to feed their families, pay their utilities, pay for their housing, pay for the healthcare... if you're not paying people enough to pay for the basics, they're going to need help getting food," Kaufmann tells Bill. "There are a lot of corporations that want to be involved in the fight against hunger. The best thing they can do is get on board for fair wages." BILL MOYERS: Food stamps were at the core of the monster farm bill that went down to defeat in the House of Representatives last week. That bill would have cut food stamps by some $20 billion over 10 years, but that was too little for House Republicans and too much for House Democrats, although Senate Democrats had already agreed to cuts of more than $4 billion. Here to talk about food stamps and the farm bill is a journalist whose beat is hunger, politics, and policy. Greg Kaufmann is poverty correspondent for "The Nation" magazine and a contributor to our website, BillMoyers.com. He's also an advisor to the Economic Hardship Reporting Project, founded by journalist Barbara Ehrenreich and the Institute for Policy Studies. Greg Kaufman, welcome. Web Link: http://billmoyers.com/segment/greg-kaufmann-on-the-truth-about-american-povertv/ GREG KAUFMANN: Great to be with you, Bill. BILL MOYERS: There are almost 48 million people using food stamps a day, and over recent years that's a 70 percent increase. What does your own reporting tell you about why? GREG KAUFMANN: Well, the biggest reason, I think, is the proliferation of low-wage work. People are working and they're not getting paid