This story is getting kind of old, but is still astounding. Just like the people who will most be hurt by Trumpcare are the people living in Trump states, the massive cuts to food assistance in his budget will do the same. He's cutting more than $192 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or as most people think of it, food stamps. That's a quarter of the program's funding.
About 44 million people benefit from food stamps in the US, especially poorer states in the Southeast. For example, one out of every five people in Louisiana receives food stamps in a given month, according to a report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
Trump's proposed cuts to food stamps will by and large hit his own voters the hardest. Louisiana voted overwhelmingly for Trump, as did its Southeast counterparts Mississippi, Alabama, West Virginia, and Georgia. Out of the ten states with the highest food stamp-use by population, seven voted Republican in last year's presidential election.
In addition to that massive cut, it would slash $272 billion over all from federal safety-net programs. It's so bad, even budget director Mick Mulvaney's former Freedom Caucus colleague Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) thinks it might be too much.
But in a signal that some proposed cuts to domestic programs are likely to face resistance even from conservatives, Mr. Meadows said he could not stomach the idea of doing away with food assistance for older Americans.
"Meals on Wheels, even for some of us who are considered to be fiscal hawks, may be a bridge too far," Mr. Meadows said.
It's hard to believe that there actually is a bar that's too low for the Freedom Caucus for causing pain. Figures the Trump regime would cross it.