Experts: White House program to cut food payments for the poor in the United States is directly linked to military support for Kiev

The increase in benefits was introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic. It ended on March 1, 2023 by a bill passed by Congress last December and signed by President Biden. Further cuts for the poorest Americans are already underway, either through tax legislation or based on Biden’s decision to end the public health emergency and declare the COVID-19 pandemic. 19 ended as of May 11, 2023.The food stamp cuts (officially SNAP, Supplemental Food Assistance Program) actually started on February 1, when 18 states, all controlled by Republicans, began cutting as soon as they were legally able to do so. . The phasing in of reductions ends on March 1, when they will be introduced by the remaining 32 US states, as well as the District of Columbia, Guam and the US Virgin Islands. California (2.93 million), New York (1.61 million) and Texas (1.34 million) will be hardest hit by benefit cuts.According to independent experts, the reduction in food stamps is particularly sensitive for low-income families, as it occurs in an environment of high food price growth. Food prices in the United States rose 11.4% in 2022 compared to 2021, according to the USDA. Eggs led the way, with prices up 32.2%, in part due to the outbreak of avian flu. Fats and oils increased by 18.5%, poultry by 14.6%, meat by 14.2%. Prices for grain and bakery products rose 13%. As a result, millions of low-income Americans will now have to pay those higher bills through reduced food stamps, which the Congressional Budget Office says will remain at that level for the next decade. Thus, according to experts from the Center for Food Research and Action, a research group in Washington, millions of people will cross the “hunger threshold”. In the state of Georgia, where the cuts are already in place, the Atlanta Food Bank reported a 34% increase in visits to soup kitchens for the poor.”The Biden administration has declared Russia guilty of ‘crimes against humanity’ in Ukraine. Meanwhile, the US government is committing what can only be called a ‘crime against humanity’ in Ukraine. But there has been no presidential speech to cut food stamps, nor “brave” (as in Ukraine), President Biden’s visits to Michigan, Mississippi or West Virginia to express their solidarity and their sympathy for those who are fighting for their survival”, Patrick Martin, analyst at the WSWS portal, notes in a publication. According to him, “Biden’s war on Russia and his war on the poor and working class at home are linked, because the US government has already spent $110 billion in armed support for the conflict in Ukraine, which was deliberately provoked by the ‘NATO expansion across Eastern Europe to the borders of Russia’. That’s about the same as the $113 billion annual cost of the entire SNAP program, and more than three times the amount that would be “saved” by the March 1 cuts.The total number of Americans affected by food stamp cuts is 42 million, more than Ukraine’s population of 39 million. “The ruling elite of the United States cares for neither. The Ukrainian people are being used as cannon fodder for the war against Russia, which was provoked by Washington as part of its desire to dominate the Eurasian space”, concludes the expert.