From the member of the U.S. Congress who called for “river to the sea” liberation of Palestine after the October 7 Hamas/UNRWA/Palestinian Islamic Jihad victory:
There have been previous cuts. The program has been gutted. A yet larger cut is forthcoming unless everyone votes for Democrats.
After 30 years of “cuts” to this program that is part of what used to be called “welfare”, how has the number of beneficiaries changed?
USDA publishes data from 1969 through 2023 regarding the number of Americans who are dependent on their brothers, sisters, and binary-resisters who pay taxes. Based on the table below, the number of dependents has grown from 2.9 million in 1969 to 42 million in 2023:
How does it work in practice? Here’s a tutorial video:
Note that this post is not an argument against taxpayers being forced to provide for those who wisely elect to refrain from work. It is about the subtlety of the American progressive mind, in which people can believe and say that a government program has been “cut” or “gutted” while spending on that program grows.
Food stamps should cover zebras for those of us who identify as other animals besides humans.
“Dr” Phil:
Do you support higher minimum wages so full-time workers aren’t stuck below the poverty line and are therefore SNAP eligible?
“Millions of Full-Time Workers Rely on Federal Health Care and Food Assistance Programs”
https://www.gao.gov/assets/d2145.pdf
I bet a full-time 40-hour-a-week worker in 1970 was not eligible for food stamps.
P.S. Please comment on MTG’s argument yesterday that Fauci is not a “Doctor.” He should only be “Mr Fauci.” Maybe the same as you and Jill Biden?
I support a minimum wage of $2000/hr, which is what an attorney can bill these days (see https://www.law.com/americanlawyer/2022/07/28/as-bankruptcy-rates-skyrocket-historic-fee-leaders-find-company-at-2000-per-hour/?slreturn=20240504180653 ). In Philip’s Planned Price Process, workers who do stuff that is essential, e.g., stock grocery shelves or prepare delicious meals at McDonald’s, would get paid at least as much as non-essential workers, such as lawyers.
I don’t follow MTG and I don’t go by either Doctor or Mister so I don’t have a personal perspective to offer.
@Mike, your argument is, everyone who works at McDonald’s, Walmart, etc. — jobs that don’t require skills — must be paid a living wage of $xx so we move them out of poverty line and off SNAP doesn’t hold water.
Those kind of jobs are temporary jobs, and anyone thinking they can make a career out of them are brainwashed. You can thank our government for telling lies to those folks that they deserve living wage salary. This is why a meal at McDonald’s cost you 3x what it used to be. And guess what? The “poor” is not able to afford McDonald’s any more.
As for the 1970’s, or even 80’s or 90’s *everyone* did just fine at minimal wages with far less government handout. Why? The “poor” didn’t waste money on cell phone, internet, online XYZ subscriptions, large TV, xBox, new car, etc. The “poor” of the past worked hard to better their lives and the lives of their family.
Today, the message from our government to the “poor” is simple: it is OK, you can be poor, it is not your fault, we got you, and we will pay you to say poor.
In the 80’s and 90’s, to get any government assistance, you had to work hard to prove that you are in-need and those programs didn’t last forever. Those days are gone. Today, it is so easy to get on SNAP or have RAFT (look it up if you don’t know what this is) pay your rent even-though-COVIDFear-is-over! If that’s not enough, programs like this, [1] that were enacted during COVIDFear (thanks to Dr. Fauci) are still in full effect today!
At times, I ask myself: why do I keep on working, help my kids pay off their student loans or buy a house? The “poor” has far less stressful life then I do.
[1] https://www.city.waltham.ma.us/home/news/here-are-all-the-places-you-can-get-free-meals-to-go-and-groceries-in-waltham-this-week-67
George A: While I think we disagree about the fair wage for a McDonald’s worker (I say that it is $2,001/hr because McDonald’s is essential and delicious), perhaps we can agree that SNAP is not the most valuable “not-welfare” program offered by the American welfare state. The rights to live in means-tested public housing and to have a zero-deductible health insurance policy (Medicaid) are worth a lot more in dollar equivalents.
It would be great to have a tutorial video comparable to https://youtu.be/lWDhFc6nN1Q?si=oNxGfeKhxbtp7KAQ but for public housing.
A democrat once said “Ask not what you can do for your country-ask what your country can do for you.”
@Mike, please correct me if I got this quote wrong.
Reading Mike’s comments is like getting a sudden whiff of dubious aroma from the sewer vent.
I love it when politician use the phrase “we are the richest country”. Are we? We rank at #16 in terms of debt per capita [1]. And at the current rate of debt growth of $1T per 100 days [2], it won’t be long before we become the #1 in debt.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_external_debt
[2] https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/01/the-us-national-debt-is-rising-by-1-trillion-about-every-100-days.html
There should be a calculation to adjust GDP for public and/or personal debt levels. That would tell us how “rich” we are.
@Sam: https://www.fool.com/the-ascent/research/average-household-debt/
Also, I just learned that government spending counts as part of GDP.
I think we should call how “rich” we are NDP (Net Domestic Product).
In their defense, those poor black girls seemed heart-breakingly thin, at least compared to some specimens I’ve seen.
Nevertheless, I’d like to propose that all EBT/SNAP/whatever-users be weighed at the scales before any purchase is permitted. Results to be logged and time series to be generated.