Wednesday, July 31, 2019

President Trump Wants To Cut Food Stamps (SNAP)

The administration is painting a program that has successfully fed hungry children, seniors and disabled people as rife with fraud. Don't believe it! SNAP is actually on of the most efficiently run programs in the country. 

"In trying to make a case for the proposal, the Administration argues that states are approving households for SNAP under BBCE without checking their incomes or assessing their need for food assistance. The claim is incorrect. To receive SNAP, all households, including those eligible under BBCE, must apply, be interviewed, and document that their monthly income and expenses, such as high housing and child care costs, leave them with too little disposable income to afford a basic, adequate diet. Indeed, the Department of Agriculture’s own data show that only about 0.2 percent of SNAP benefits went in 2017 to households with monthly disposable incomes — net income after deducting certain expenses like high housing and child care costs — above the poverty line. SNAP has some of the most rigorous program integrity standards and systems of any federal program."  (Center for Budget and Policy Priorities)
https://www.cbpp.org/press/statements/misguided-trump-administration-rule-would-take-basic-food-assistance-from-working


People do not stay on this program for a life time. A few months to a few years is the usual profile. See this article in the LA Times.
https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2019-07-23/trump-food-stamp-cuts

Cutting food stamps is one of Pres. Trump's methods of getting the money he needs to give a 1.5 trillion dollar break to wealthy people and corporations. The administration is willing to literally take food out of people's mouths. Shameful.