Biden’s Food Stamp Expansion Linked to 15% Jump in Grocery Prices; Federal Food Stamp Expansion Fuels Rise in Grocery Prices, Study Claims

Biden’s food stamp expansion linked to 15% jump in grocery prices: study:

A push by the Biden administration to increase food stamp benefits to the tune of $1 trillion could be responsible for a 15% rise in prices at the grocery store, according to a government watchdog report.

The Department of Agriculture rolled out revised nutritional standards for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in 2021 that expanded the program by 27% on average from pre-COVID pandemic levels, the Foundation for Government Accountability found.

Overall spending on the program more than doubled between 2019 and 2022, going from $4.5 billion in 2019 to $11 billion in 2022, a study released Thursday by the government accountability group shows.

The spending hit $8.6 billion in March 2023, despite some emergency allotments having expired, and is expected to rise by 5.8% over the course of the year.

The expansion is projected to cost US taxpayers more than $1 trillion over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

The increase in spending on food stamps has fueled a rise in grocery prices and contributed to high inflation, the group says.

“USDA cooked their books to hike food stamp benefits by 27% — the largest permanent increase in program history. And they bypassed Congress to do it,” Jonathan Ingram, vice president of policy and research at the Foundation for Government Accountability, told Fox News, which first reported on the study.

“Data show the Biden administration’s overreach led to massive spikes in grocery prices. They’re feeding inflation, not stopping hunger.” —>READ MORE HERE

Federal food stamp expansion fuels rise in grocery prices, study claims:

A new study shows the pandemic-era expansion of federal food stamps is responsible for increasing food prices over the past two years.

“The food is just just ridiculous. It’s just too expensive,” explained Marjorie Wagner from Omaha to Sinclair station KPTM in Nebraska. “It’s kind of hard out here.”

A new study from the conservative think tank Foundation for Government Accountability shows the expansion of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) also known as the food stamp program is helping to drive up those grocery prices by at least 15%.

They blame the Biden Administration for increasing SNAP benefits by an average of 27% back in 2021.

Larry Summers, who served as Treasury Secretary under Pres. Bill Clinton, has been sounding the alarm for years on how government relief drives inflation.

I think this is the least responsible macroeconomic policy we’ve had in the last 40 years. I think fundamentally, it’s driven by intransigence on the Democratic left and intransigence and completely unreasonable behavior on the whole of the Republican party,” he said during an interview with Bloomberg back in 2021 after President Joe Biden signed the $1.9 trillion Coronavirus stimulus package.

When it comes to food stamps, advocates say the extra funding is needed. —>READ MORE HERE

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