Are the "cuts" to SNAP program actually "cuts"?

Going back to the 2019 pre-covid baselines show that we expanded this program by 50% in five years.

So can we really say that slowing the continued expansion of a welfare program is actually a cut? Most of the time, when a politician suggests something is getting cut, they are actually suggesting that the amount of spending is less than the amount of spending they are proposing. Not that the actual previous spending is getting cut.

With SNAP (food stamps), the program cost the federal government 65 billion dollars in 2019. That amount almost doubled until settling in at the 2024 expenditure of around 105 billion. Now you hear Democrats suggesting that the SNAP program will be "cut" by 200 billion. Given this 200 billion is spread out over ten years, the best- or worst-case scenario here would suggest a 2025 budget in the 80-85 billion range, which would still be at least a 25% increase from where it was pre-covid. My guess is that the cuts are likely heavier in the later portions of the budget, so there is no real guarantee that we will see a 20 billion dollar cut this year.

Now the question becomes: why did SNAP spending go up 50% in five years? According to Democrats, the post covid economy under Biden was stellar with absolutely no inflation. How is it then, that we encountered that many more people at or near poverty level? If, in 2025, the unemployment rate is sitting at 4.1% inflation has cooled, and wages are growing quite strongly, why do we need "more" food stamps for people?

There are three possible explanations and none of them are good:

• The economy did really suck under Biden and more people fell into poverty.

• We are providing food stamps to the millions of illegals who flooded the country.

• Democrats are just trying to proactively create a bigger welfare system.

My guess is that this is a little bit of all three. That being said, the economy has improved over the past few months and there is every suggestion that it will continue. There are no more illegals entering the country to collect food stamp, and those who are collecting them are gradually being deported. So the only real excuse for this continued increase in welfare spending is the very idea of spending more on welfare in order to create a larger welfare system with more Americans relying on it. This is the fight.

Democrats are sitting at all-time lows in approval. They have no real good ideas. They are on the losing end of most of the top issues. They are losing in the courts, losing in the legislation, and they just seem to be wandering in the wilderness. Pushing more people to be on welfare (and making people feel sorry for anyone losing benefits) seems to be their latest strategy. It's a double whammy for them. They can increase the class of people who almost exclusively vote for them (the parasites) and they can appeal to the emotions of the rest of their base (and possibly some crossover voters) with the idea of poor people losing benefits.

Watch for it to become a signature campaign issue for them.