Newark, NJ Mayor Puts His Money Where His Mouth is

We don't often hear of politicians "walking the walk" after "talking the talk" but in the case of Newark, New Jersey Major, Cory Booker, he's doing just that when it comes to food stamps. 

Booker will be participating in a week long challenge to live on $30 worth of food stamps or about $4.32 per day which is about what people in New Jersey receive who take part in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).  People who receive these food stamps are only allowed to spend them on breads, cereals, fruits, vegetables, meats, fish, poultry, and dairy products.

This experiment stems from criticism from a constituent who commented on Twitter that "nutrition is not the responsibility of the government."  Booker then suggested to that challenger that they both attempt to live on a SNAP food budget for a week and record their experience to better understand the results of government food assistance.

Booker is hoping to break any stigmas of government assistance, by participating in this challenge.

I think that no matter whether you believe in government assistance, isn't it nice that there's a politician who cares enough about what he believes in to actually take action and live by that program to find out first hand how well it works?  I say good for him!