General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums45 million Americans rely on food stamps. Trump wants to gut the program.
The administrations budget proposal would cut SNAP spending by a quarter.
Updated by Julia Belluz@juliaoftorontojulia.belluz@voxmedia.com May 25, 2017, 10:47am EDT
Trumps new budget proposal has been panned for its magical thinking on economic growth and sloppy accounting errors.
One of the big cuts proposed would also take a sledgehammer to a safety net program thats been remarkably effective.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, has been helping keep Americans from going hungry since the 1960s. Formerly known as food stamps, the program began as a pilot under President John F. Kennedy in 1961 as part of the war on poverty. Today, SNAP is the biggest and most important nutrition assistance program: About 45 million Americans living below the poverty line nearly half of them children rely on SNAP to purchase food.
If Trump had his way, though, the number of SNAP recipients would soon be drastically cut. The administrations first comprehensive budget proposal would trim SNAP spending by $191 billion over the next decade which is about a quarter of the programs funding. (The program costs the federal government $80 billion a year, which is a large amount of money but a relatively small fraction of the budget.)
more
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/5/23/15675892/food-stamps-snap-evidence-health-poverty-hunger
dalton99a
(81,568 posts)Zambero
(8,965 posts)Last edited Thu May 25, 2017, 01:15 PM - Edit history (1)
Elections do in fact matter. But those particular voters will not be taking Der Leader and his poison pen to task for any legislative misfortunes that might befall them. It will be the "worthless" Democrats' fault for "not having their back".
Drahthaardogs
(6,843 posts)Elections have consequences
Laf.La.Dem.
(2,944 posts)We need to help the 1% - they are hurting!
L. Coyote
(51,129 posts)Perhaps their higher goal, breaking up the USA and stealing everything, is more important than the voters.
beachbum bob
(10,437 posts)Loss revenues in the 100's of millions...