( CNN ) -- I love Thanksgiving . I love everything about it : gathering three generations around the table , pausing for a moment with heads bowed to thank God for our abundant blessings , carrying a tradition across the centuries , watching my beloved Texas Longhorns play football . I even love clanging the pots and scraping the plates afterward . And I especially love the eating . We are traditionalists in my family , so it 's turkey and stuffing , and three kinds of pie . I am hoping this year to add one more item to the menu : a small serving of conscience . For as we gorge ourselves , Congress is contemplating drastic cuts in food aid for the least of our brethren . Food stamps , formally known as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance for the Poor , or SNAP , help poor people eat -- simple as that . And I mean poor . The average SNAP household has a gross income of just $ 744 per month . I 'll bet House Speaker John Boehner spends more than that each month just on cigs and merlot . Requirements to receive food stamps have become so tight that Feeding America , the nation 's leading domestic hunger-relief charity , estimates that only 57 % of food-insecure Americans are even eligible for food stamps . Can you imagine being too poor to afford food , but too `` rich '' to qualify for food stamps ? Eatocracy Opinion : SNAP Is n't about a free lunch . So benefits under the SNAP program go to the poorest of the poor -- and they 're not exactly living high on the hog off food stamps , either . The average monthly SNAP benefit per person is $ 133.85 , or less than $ 1.50 per person , per meal . A buck-fifty per meal does n't go far . By the third week of the month , most people 's benefits have already run out . And yet even that miserly amount is too generous for some Republican politicians . Rep. Stephen Fincher , R-Tennessee , has likened food aid for the poor to robbery , telling a gathering of his fellow Tennesseans , `` The role of citizens , of Christians , of humanity is to take care of each other , but not for Washington to steal money from those in the country and give to others in the country . '' Eatocracy : How do you stretch your food dollars ? I am sure Fincher is a good man , but I prefer to listen to Jesus on the role of Christians . After all , he said , `` For I was hungry and you gave me food , I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink . '' Fincher , like nearly all House Republicans , voted to cut SNAP by $ 40 billion over ten years . Those cuts would kick 3.8 million Americans off food stamps and end subsidized school lunches for 210,000 hungry children . Some 170,000 of the people who will be kicked off food stamps are veterans -- an especially heartless way to treat those who have worn the uniform . Here 's the beauty part : While literally taking food out of the mouths of the hungriest Americans , the House GOP farm bill protects corporate welfare , in the form of subsidized crop insurance ( among other programs ) . Rep. Rosa DeLauro , D-Connecticut , somehow manages to talk about this without her head exploding -- which means she has greater self-control than I do . `` Republicans are continuing to protect crop insurance subsidies to some of the wealthiest Americans and at the same time trying to cut the very program that helps keep children , seniors , and disabled individuals out of hunger , the Food Stamp Program , '' she said . `` Unlike food stamps , crop insurance subsidies are not subject to means testing or payment limits . Some farms annually collect more than $ 1 million in crop insurance . '' Eatocracy : How to feed your family from a food bank . DeLauro is too polite to mention that one of the well-to-do welfare recipients is her colleague , Fincher . Fincher has received $ 3.48 million in taxpayer subsidies for his Tennessee farm , including $ 70,000 in 2012 alone . By contrast , the average Tennessee food stamp recipient gets $ 1,586.40 per year . Mark Zandi of Moody 's was an economic adviser to the GOP presidential campaign of Sen. John McCain . He studied the effect of various government spending to stimulate the economy . Guess what he said gives us the most bang for the buck -- the single best expenditure we can make to stimulate economic growth ? ( Drumstick roll , please . ) That 's right -- food stamps . For every dollar we spend on SNAP , Zandi said , $ 1.73 surges through the economy : Farmers make more money , truckers haul more food , grocers hire more cashiers . Oh , and hungry people get a meal . It 's a win-win-win . So this Thanksgiving I will once again thank God for my family , my freedom , and my food . And pray a little extra for the Republican politicians to help their fellow Americans -- and our economy -- by supporting food stamps . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Paul Begala .
Paul Begala : As we gorge at Thanksgiving , GOP House wants to cut food stamps for millions . The Republican Party is in a panic over the possibility of losing its grip on Congress and the White House. GOP Rep. Fincher , who voted to cut , got $ 3.48 million in farm taxpayer subsidies , he says . Begala : Economists say food stamps spur economic growth ; GOP should restore them .