Biden to Announce Today a 25% Increase in Food Stamps’ Value

By Yehudit Garmaise 

      Food stamps are expected to increase permanently by a record 25% this October, the Biden administration is expected to announce today, The New York Times reported.

     The 40 million Americans who receive the assistance can expect to see an increase in $36 a month.

     The Biden administration is expected to announce the new rules today, and they will take effect in October, according to the Times.

     The government assistance, which is provided by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, is slated to increase by $36 in addition to what was a pre-pandemic average of $121 a month.

     Besides for inflation adjustments, the program’s value has not increased since its inception in 1962.

     The monthly increase does not require approval from Congress, but rather is based on updates that the Department of Agriculture (DOA) made to the Thrifty Food Plan, which sets nutritional goals for Americans.

     According to the Times, the weekly cost to the government for the increase will jump from $159 to $193 for a family of four.

      While Republicans, such as Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) have long questioned the long-term national debt and high taxes that will be created by the spending of President Joe Biden, now even moderate Democrats are objecting to a budget that would green-light even more governmental spending that has considered by many to be shockingly radical and excessive in the president’s first 100 days in office.

     After a State of the Union speech in April in which Biden proposed $6 trillion in new spending and a multitude of new taxes, for instance, Sen. Cruz ruefully joked, “Dear G-d, I hope no one tells the Democrats what comes after a trillion.”

     Last week, nine centrist Democrats wrote, in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, (D-Calif), that they “will not consider voting” for a budget resolution that outlines Democrats’ considerable spending plans until the House of Representatives first approves and sends to Biden a separate, Senate-passed package that focuses on roads, internet broadband access, and other infrastructure projects. 

    “We simply can’t afford months of unnecessary delays and risk squandering this one-in-a century, a bipartisan infrastructure package,” the moderate Democrats wrote.

 (Official White House Photo by Katie Ricks)