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The ongoing government shutdown could result in as many as 42 million SNAP and EBT recipients losing access to their benefits unless something is done by November 1st. This raises a major question: how did we reach a point where so many Americans rely on the federal government for their food?
For starters, the inevitable waste and fraud are likely a major factor in that number, but the natural expansion of the programs isn't helping either. Economist EJ Antoni with the Heritage Foundation explained, "Over the last several years, you've seen an explosion in not just the amount of subsidies you can get, but also in who can get them."
He went on to point out the natural effect that government programs like taxpayer-funded welfare have on the population, saying, "If you subsidize something, you get more of it; if you tax something, you get less of it. What we've been doing is taxing work, and we've been subsidizing not working!"
So what's the solution? Antoni suggested a solution that could lower the burden on taxpayers and help wean the public off taxpayer-funded welfare. He suggested giving state governments more control over welfare programs, which would enable more effective distribution of funds and the reduction of fraud and abuse.
Antoni also believes that this will make it easier to determine the most effective possible system, because you'll have 50 different "laboratories of democracy" all doing things a little bit differently, and Americans will vote with their feet for the most effective option.