In case you haven’t heard there has been a debate on Capitol Hill over the farm bill and the GOP proposal to cut billions of dollars from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP.

In fact, the House Ag Committee passed a reconciliation bill on Wednesday that would cut SNAP by $290 billion over 10 years. Of course the bill still has many hurdles to clear before it is passed into law.

I am, of course, in favor of a government program that feeds people who cannot afford to feed themselves. But I also believe these people, while they are being fed by taxpayers, should be working towards feeding themselves and their families if they are able-bodied. Welfare should be something that helps people when they are down to get back on their feet again.

If that is the case then it should be possible for the government to cut SNAP because it should be a temporary solution not a lifestyle.

The argument that cutting SNAP funding will take money away from farmers is ridiculous because, one way or another, we will still be feeding these people until they can feed themselves.

Also, there is waste, fraud and abuse in the program that should be addressed.

According to the Economic Policy Innovation Center, “The USDA has reported more than $45.75 billion of improper payments between FY 2003 and FY 2022. The reported improper payment rate was 11.5 percent in 2022.

USDA reported data quality issues in FY 2015 and 2016 that prevented it from providing improper payment rates. In FY 2020 and 2021, USDA suspended state error data reporting requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Improper payments are likely significantly higher than the reported amounts. In fact, the 2014 farm bill instructs USDA to ignore improper payments up to a “quality control tolerance threshold.” This threshold was set at $37 in 2014 and increases with inflation each year. In 2022, the “tolerance threshold” was $48. Thus, any improper payment up to $48 in 2022 was not reported. The tolerance threshold increases to $56 for FY 2024.”

Sure some of you are going to say that the Economic Policy Innovation Center is a conservative group. But does that mean they are wrong? I’m pretty sure if a liberal think tank wants to crunch the numbers they can.

Also, I think many states also overstepped when they started providing SNAP benefits for illegal immigrants. It’s so easy for states to provide these benefits because, hey its free money from the federal government right?

If this cut to SNAP benefits does happen it might be time for the government to take a closer look at people in need and how they can help them succeed. Rather than keeping people on assistance to prompt them to vote for one party over another, we should be spending more money to help them with schooling or workforce training so they can provide for themselves.

Making these people into taxpaying citizens means they will eventually be able to give back by helping others achieve financial independence.

And the way the government spends money, we are going to need more taxpayers.