Free Republic

We answer your questions about immigrants and SNAP BenefitsThe immigrant issue in Americahas reached a whole new level of scrutiny amid the recent waves of people coming into the country while searching for that American dream. Nations involved in this are people from Haiti, Ukraine, Palestine, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and any other country that is currently having socio economic or political issues. Amid all the incoming folks getting in the country illegally, the ones that are already living here and are also immigrants are concerned over what could happen to their welfare programs. Because many of these illegal immigrants...

The Biden administration’s massive expansion of food stamp benefits is linked to at least a 15% rise in grocery prices, a new study said on Thursday. President Biden’s Department of Agriculture rolled out revised nutritional standards for federal food benefits in 2021 that expanded the program by roughly 25% from pre-COVID pandemic levels. Overall spending on the Supplemental Assistance Nutrition Program (SNAP) more than doubled between 2019 and 2022, according to findings from the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA) previewed by Fox News Digital. It went from $4.5 billion in 2019 to $11 billion in 2022, the study said.

An event at Harvard University encouraged some graduate students to apply for food stamps, despite the school's $53billion endowment. Earlier this year, Harvard University Health Services reminded grad students that they could fuel their bodies and stock their pantries by using government assistance to pay for groceries. 'Did you know that Grad Students may qualify to receive assistance paying for food & groceries?' read a flier for the event. Harvard's endowment makes it the richest university in the world, a fact that sparked outrage among community members who argued that paying graduate students a livable food stipend would barely even...

On Friday’s broadcast of Bloomberg’s “Sound On,” White House Council of Economic Advisers member Heather Boushey said that it is crucial that veterans and homeless people were spared the “onerous work requirements” for SNAP benefits in the debt limit and that it appears as though access to food stamps will increase on the whole, but estimates at this point are “very, both preliminary and subject to variance.” Boushey said, [relevant remarks begin around 4:30] “Listen, the important thing here is that the president focused on maintaining his priorities. And certainly, making sure that veterans have access, that homeless folks have...

More than half of all students, and nearly 40 percent of all faculty at New Mexico’s higher education institutions don’t have enough food to eat. The findings, from a new state-funded study, reveal troubling statistics representative of a worsening problem across America. New Mexico is taking steps to address it — and other states should pay attention. We’ve known about the problem of food insecurity among U.S. college students for a while. But the New Mexico research casts a wider spotlight on hunger’s broader impact on higher education teachers and administrators. It’s yet another data point that shows just how...

Federal spending jumped from $4.45 trillion in 2019 to $6.21 trillion in 2023, according to the Congressional Budget Office. That is a 40 percent increase in four years. The pandemic supercharged the federal budget, and spending and deficits are expected to continue rising unless policymakers pursue major reforms.What is all the new spending since 2019? The answer is surprising, as shown in the two tables below. The main drivers of the recent increases have not been the largest three programs—Social Security, Medicare, and defense—but rather rapid growth in numerous other programs.Table 1 shows CBO spending for 2019 and baseline estimates...

One of the major causes of "food insecurity" is that low income people often have problems with money management. This is well demonstrated by people using their EBT money on junk food when they first receive a deposit on their card and then having no money/credit left at the end of the month. The once a month delivery made sense when the stamps were sent though the mail, but now everything is down on a debit card. It seems that it would be simple to change the card to a weekly or even daily dispersal instead of once a month....

<p>As the cost of living in the U.S. has gone up, government subsidies to help people pay for basics have disappeared one-by-one. Up next on the chopping block: Emergency allotments of a food-assistance program that supports 30 million Americans in 32 states.</p>

'It is time for this exemption to end,' said Sen. John Boozman... Able-bodied people without dependents must work 20 hours a week or be in job training to qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). But during the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress suspended the work requirement. Businesses are open again, yet 25 states have not fully reinstated work requirements. Of those, seven states allow work waivers in certain areas of the state. These seven are Colorado, Kentucky, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, and South Dakota. Eighteen states and territories have kept the work waiver across the entire state. They...

Nearly 3 million California households are bracing for a massive cut in CalFresh benefits next month as the federal government stops emergency funding for food stamps that was launched during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. CalFresh recipients who were receiving $281 a month are expected to get as low as $23 a month beginning in April. CalFresh is the state’s federally-funded food benefit program that helps low-income households purchase groceries. Benefits vary based on household income, size and other relevant expenses, according to the California Department of Social Services. Since March 2020, CalFresh recipients have received an additional emergency...

(NEXSTAR) – Residents of 32 states who rely on federal assistance to buy food are about to see their benefits shrink at the end of the month. An emergency increase to SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly called the Food Stamp Program) was approved at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. For most recipients, that increase amounted to an extra $95 monthly over the past three years. Starting March 1, those emergency COVID-era benefits will end across all states. Seventeen states already saw those benefits expire as of January 2023. One state, South Carolina, ended the emergency allotment at the...

The EBT cards the state uses to deliver financial assistance to low-income residents lack security features common to credit and debit cards. California officials plan to upgrade. Meanwhile, they’re paying millions to replace stolen money and food stamps.

The second the Speaker of the House kabuki theater is over, I want whoever the new chair of the Ag committee is to crawl down the USDA’s throat. And stay there for a while. I understand food stamps/SNAP were meant to help –help not lifetime support – the less fortunate through hard times and keep food on the table. But it has turned into yet another Biden administration constituency hand-out, where taxpayers are being held up by the accomplished money launderers operating in the various departments.One peril of a large administrative state is the mischief agencies can get up to...

In this post-election haze, many conservatives are understandably confused. If the economy was such a high-priority issue, and the Democrats were mostly responsible for the runaway inflation -- why didn’t the Republican’s win more seats? Efforts to lay the blame at the doorstop of Donald Trump is pointless and a wasted exercise. Pointing to abortion as a key issue deflects from the real issue at hand. The cause of the election loss is relatively simple -- Americans have not suffered enough pain with this economy -- yet. Inflation hits everyone -- it is an indiscriminate irritant that impacts people regardless...

Heather Campbell has been a military spouse for years. She walked away from a full-ride Ph.D. when she met her husband and later became a mother to three kids. Campbell was once even selected as Eielson Air Force Base spouse of the year but she also faced unemployment as the family moved to remote locations such as Alaska. As a result, Campbell, who is now a registered dietician, and her family joined the nearly 25% of military families this past year that struggled to feed themselves, according to the Department of Defense. "We get told to do more with less...

The U.S. Army has released guidance for soldiers as they fight inflation, including a suggestion that they take advantage of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps. SNAP, a benefit for low-income Americans, is a program for which "service members and their families may be eligible," the guidance said, pointing soldiers and their families to the SNAP website and phone number. SNAP is one of several options discussed as part of the Army's Financial Readiness Program. "With inflation affecting everything from gas prices to groceries to rent, some Soldiers and their families are finding it harder...

Nobody joins the US military to get rich. Military members and their families make incredible sacrifices on a daily basis, and none expect to earn their fortunes in the service. But no one joins the military to be on welfare or food stamps either. Yet that’s happening today in the US military under Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. An official US Army web site recently featured a posting advising soldiers to apply for food stamps. This is unfortunately not unprecedented. During the Jimmy Carter administration in the late 1970s, a period widely acknowledged as one of the lowest points for...

The new American way of life... For a guy and his girlfriend with two kids, all you have to do is follow these proven steps: 1. Don't marry her! 2. Always use your mom's address to get your mail. 3. The guy buys a house. 4. The guy rents out the house to his girlfriend with his two kids. 5. Section 8 will pay $900 a month for a 3 bedroom home. 6. Girlfriend signs up for Obamacare, so the guy doesn't have to pay for family insurance. 7. Girlfriend gets to go to college for free for being a...

President Joe Biden tweeted Wednesday that supermarket shelves are well stocked across the country while grocers ration food. “For all those concerns a few weeks ago that there would not be ample food available for Thanksgiving, families can rest easy today,” Biden claimed. “Grocery stores are well-stocked with turkey and everything else you need,” the president added. Meanwhile, Publix Supermarkets, a Florida-based grocer, warned customers this week to expect food shortages in all 1,280 stores across the southeast.

On Wednesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “New Day,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack stated that the Biden administration is “trying to help people deal with the consequences of rising prices, whether it’s increasing the SNAP benefit or whether it’s making sure that the child tax credit is available to folks or whether it’s rebuilding the infrastructure of this economy” to fix supply chain issues. Vilsack said, “I think it’s — the key here is that we’re also trying to help people deal with the consequences of rising prices, whether it’s increasing the SNAP benefit or whether it’s making sure that the child...