Red States Reject Biden Admin's Laughable Summer Grocery Program
Why does the Biden administration keep thinking it can combat the consequences of inflation by throwing more government money at them?
Well, there are none more blind than those who refuse to see, and the White House made an announcement on Wednesday further demonstrating that willful blindness.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a news release it will be launching a permanent grocery benefit program for children this summer wherein qualifying households will receive $40 per child each month to spend on groceries.
According to the release, 35 states, five territories and four Native American tribes have opted into the Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer thus far.
The USDA said the program would cover approximately 70 percent of the eligible children at launch and it hopes to add more states by next summer.
Nearly 21 million children are expected to receive the new, permanent grocery benefits program this summer. States will provide families with $120/eligible child for the summer to buy food at grocery stores, farmers markets or other authorized retailers ➡️ https://t.co/6MmESQvgLs pic.twitter.com/TrdvfCJZ1s
— Dept. of Agriculture (@USDA) January 10, 2024
According to The Hill, 15 states — almost all of them red — did not opt into the program: Alabama, Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Vermont and Wyoming.
The outlet reported that many Republican officials said their states “did not need the funds or that they did not have the capabilities to run this program.”
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds explained her state’s reasoning in a Dec. 22 news release.
“Federal COVID-era cash benefit programs are not sustainable and don’t provide long-term solutions for the issues impacting children and families. An EBT card does nothing to promote nutrition at a time when childhood obesity has become an epidemic,” Reynolds said.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Education “have well-established programs in place that leverage partnerships with community-based providers and schools who understand the needs of the families they serve,” she said.
“If the Biden Administration and Congress want to make a real commitment to family well-being, they should invest in already existing programs and infrastructure at the state level and give us the flexibility to tailor them to our state’s needs,” the governor said.
Another Republican governor, Nebraska’s Jim Pillen, had a similar message in a statement on Dec. 29.
“COVID-19 is over and Nebraska taxpayers expect that pandemic-era government relief programs will end too,” Pillen said.
“To be clear, this does not mean that hungry kids will lose access to summer nutrition programs,” he said. “Nebraska continues to participate in the existing USDA Summer Food Services Program (SFSB), which best ensures access to nutritious food options and protective services to children who are in need.”
You have to admit, they have a point.
For one thing, if most states already have a government-sponsored summer program for those in need, what is the purpose of another one?
For another, how is creating yet another government program to help families pay for food supposed to help the root cause — namely, inflation created by irresponsible government spending?
Besides, is $40 a month per household really going to go all that far given the impact of Bidenomics-fueled inflation?
Prices have risen for families exponentially since President Joe Biden took office.
“On average, Americans need an additional $11,434 to afford the same standard of living in October 2023 compared with January 2021 due to inflation,” CBS News reported Nov. 30, citing a Republican congressional study.
That’s just unacceptable.
The Biden administration really thinks throwing money at a problem created by spending gobs of government money can be solved by spending more government money?
Sometimes, the willful blindness on display is truly breathtaking.
The governors rejecting the adoption of a redundant government program have the right idea.
We don’t need more government programs; we need fewer.
We need to address the root causes of rising prices.
The federal government needs to face the facts, own up to its failures and scale back the policies pushing the middle class out of existence.
But when has the Biden administration ever let facts get in the way of an agenda?
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