I recently brought up the subject of cuts in the federal food stamp program (officially the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, or SNAP) and their terrible impact on low-income Americans. I know some people who are suffering now, and this morning the Boston Globe added some specific — and alarming — numbers.

We know that just over 47 million Americans receive some sort of food stamp help; that’s about 15% of the population. Think about that for a moment — 15% of the people in our country need help to pay for food to keep from starving. And yes, I know there qre some cheaters out there. The radical conservatives among us never cease to point it out while perpetually and blindly ignoring the overwhelming majority who honestly have to have assistance to survive. Fifteen per cent is a huge number.

In New England, the numbers are cause for concern. My state, New Hampshire, has an estimated 117,000 people on food stamps, or close to 10 per cent of the state’s population. Neighboring Vermont has 16%, about 101,000. These are not just numbers, they are real people, men, women and children.

The latest cut took effect November 1 because a temporary increase in benefits that was part of President Obama’s 2009 economic stimulus package has expired. And why has it expired? BEcause in 2009 no one could conceive that the economic downturn, our little recession, would last as long as it has. And so the package came with an end date, and that date is here. In between then and now we had sequestration, the mandated cuts in federal budgeting that added to everyone’s misery, unless you are a member of the Tea Party.

So how is Congress dealing with this issue? Well, the House of Representatives, dominated by care-less Republicans, wants to trim even more money from SNAP. The Democratic-led Senate is considering the same, though to a lesser degree. And the White House? All quiet there. It seems unlikely Congress will do anything for this year to solve the problem, just another reason to un-elect this Congress, as if we needed one.

So does no one care about this any more? Of course people care. Food banks, charities and local organizations are doing all they can to take up the slack, as they have been. But they have a task far too formidable already, and the cuts in SNAP will only make it worse with winter coming on. We can rant and rage about this, but it won’t help anyone. To do that, we all need to make more efforts than ever before to help food banks, to support all organizations that help feed the hungry. It’s the right thing to do any time, but now it is also the necessary thing to do. Please.

And please remember to put the blame where it belongs — with the ghastly, thoughtless, primitive congressmen and women who represent us in Washington. And with those simplistic voters who have elected them to represent all of us. There’s plenty of blame and shame to go around.