Iowa Republican Senator Joni Ernst came out swinging at Democrat-led states for allowing hundreds of millions of government food aid to be spent at fast-food establishments.
"The ‘N' in SNAP stands for nutrition – not nuggets with a side of fries," said Ernst. "I wish I was McRibbing you, but $250 million per year at the drive-through is no joke and a serious waste of tax dollars. I hate to be the one to say McSCUSE ME, but something needs to be done because taxpayers are not lovin' it."
Ernst said her review of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program found $524 million in allowed purchases "almost exclusively" at fast-food restaurants under program regulations approved by Democrats administering the program in nine states.
SNAP is funded and partly managed by the federal government through the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The federal government sets the core eligibility rules and pays the benefits, and states handle administration, applications, and enforcement. States can also seek federal approval for limited program variations.
One of these is the Restaurant Meals Program, which lets states allow certain SNAP recipients to buy prepared food at approved locations.
Federal law permits this option, but each state decides whether to implement it.
Ernst explains that Congress approved a change for the program to ease a restriction on "hot and prepared food to assist certain groups including the homeless to be able to get prepared meals using SNAP funds."
Ernst said the Biden administration "massively expanded" the number of restaurants eligible to accept SNAP payments from anyone getting assistance through the program.
California is the biggest player in the SNAP prepared food rundown. Ernst said over the last two years, more than $475 million in SNAP-covered restaurant meal purchases were processed in that state, most of those at fast-food establishments.
The Senator said she is proposing to "restore the SNAP program to its original mission of providing nutrition to food insecure Americans [and] introducing the McStopping Chains from Using SNAP EBT to Make Entrees (McSCUSE ME) Act."
She contends government food assistance was never intended as anything but a short-term boost for American citizens to get through a period of hard times.
Dr. Michael Savage, the host of Newsmax's "Savage Nation," said fraudulent use of SNAP is "out of control," as tens of billions of dollars in food stamp spending are being lost every year to abuse and political negligence.
Jim Mishler ✉
Jim Mishler, a seasoned reporter, anchor and news director, has decades of experience covering crime, politics and environmental issues.
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