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Even before reforms, food stamp use declined drastically under Trump

President Trump entered office promising to change the rules so that the number of people receiving benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (better known as “food stamps”) would shrink. Trump finally made good on that promise in December, but his act was almost redundant, for recently released numbers show that his strong economy had already shrunk food stamp rolls.

Barack Obama got the nickname “the food-stamp president” because food stamp usage reached unparalleled heights during his administration. In his first two years in office, 12 million people were added to the already 28 million people receiving food stamps. By the time he left office, 44.2 million people in America were on food stamps.

Under the old rules for food stamp eligibility, adults between 18 and 49, who were able to work and had no dependents, could receive only three months of food stamp benefits over a three year period if they did not meet a 20-hour-a-week minimum work requirement. The exception to the rule was that states with unemployment rates as low as 3.6% were able to waive the work requirement.

Read the full story from American Thinker


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