In a previous post, I began an analysis of the 1.7 trillion-dollar Joe Biden funding bill.
I made the mistake of saying it was not “A” budget but many budgets applying to separate agencies.
The mistake was that the separate funding bills per agency are also not budgets. To put it as best I can, each separate portion of the OMNIBUS BILL is just a separate funding for each agency. It’s called OMNIBUS because it is 12 separate bills all pulled together under one umbrella that provides funding to different agencies. There is one for the USDA; another for the DOJ; another for the military and so on. If you add up the separate funding bills, they total the 1.7 trillion dollars.
Keep in mind that the OMNIBUS BILL was presented to Congress and the Senate roughly two days before they left on Christmas vacation. Mitch McConnel announced that he was leaving on Thursday for his vacation. Sadly, it was he-along with Pelosi and Schumer and Biden- that submitted the bill so late in the month of December that the Congress only had two days to consider it.
Hassan signed. Shaheen signed. Kuster signed. Papas signed. AND I GUESS THOSE THAT VOTED FOR THEM-NOT ME-ALSO SIGNED. THOSE WHO ELECTED THEM, THAT’S WHAT YOU VOTED FOR. No need to read nor deliberate. Just sign.
After my first article, it was my intent to locate some budget, any budget.
The reason: To my mind, a budget is a vital aspect of any entity, especially one that spends billions of dollars. It’s more than just an accounting of income and expenses-it’s a reflection of policy and of goals. It tells the reader what the agency involved hopes to accomplish and gives us an idea of whether the agency is accomplishing its duty and its marching orders from the Congress.
Without a budget, it is really hard to even begin to know what the agency is doing, or how it is doing it.
Since I began looking at the USDA, I decided to switch gears and see if they had published a budget of their own.
I found two things: first, the Joe Biden folks had in fact proposed a budget in March of 2022. It did not look much like a budget I would expect but it said it was a budget and it purported to set forth the funding and allocation of funds within each agency.
I went over it. Twice. I found it very, very useless. The numbers had no correlation with any of the funding I was aware of. Keep in mind that in addition to the OMNIBUS bill. that there were many other funding bills: THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT; THE RESCUE PLAN; THE CARES PLAN. Each one of them funded the USDA in some way. 140 billion here; 9 billion there, etc.
I then went to the USDA web site. They in fact had a “budget” for 2023.
I read thru it.
Again-none of the numbers matched up.
For example, the USDA budget had an entry of 110 billion for the SNAP PROGRAM. The OMNIBUS BILL had 140 billion.
I decided to keep looking but, in the interim, I found a bunch of stuff that I thought I NEEDED TO REPORT-SOME STUFF MORE HORRIBLE THAN ALL OF THE CRAP I WAS SEEING RE THE LACK OF A BUDGET OR BUDGETARY PROCESS.
First, according to USASPENDING.GOV, the USDA was given $298.32 BILLION dollars for fy 2023. They call this number “budgetary resources.” However, the site has a hedge: it says that the USDA has been given other “budgetary resources” from prior years to spend in 2023.
OK.
Of that number, $14.2 billion was for RURAL UTILITIES”; $1.2 BILLION for rural housing; and a whopping $162.5 BILLION for “food and nutrition service.”
Since the last one is the biggest elephant in the room, I chose to look into it. I admit the data is confusing but as best I could fathom, here is what the USDA is reporting:
For a family household of four people, the maximum gross income the entire household can receive and still be eligible for SNAP benefits is $3007 dollars a month. In calculating eligibility, the USDA ignores income from pension, or disability.
Moreover, you can own property, like a house, without losing your benefits. You can also own any kind of car you want “IF YOU LIVE IN IT” or need it for work; or transport food and water in it.
In terms of benefits, a family of four can get a maximum of $939 a month. (Turns out what people actually get is far less–like 2/3rds less).
In terms of benefits, the money is to be used solely for nutrition: food. The rules say no prepared foods like pizza from a parlor. The rules also say no illegals. I know both of those rules are not enforced.
From the data I have found, it appears that 4o plus million people receive such benefits.
IN FISCAL YEAR, 2022, 41,206,916 PEOPLE received SNAP benefits. The average monthly benefit per person was $230.94. So far in fiscal year 2023, 42,338,021 have received.
In fiscal year 2020-Trump’s last year in office-39,852,778 people received average $154.94; when Biden was sworn in, the average was $253.43 dollars per month. Benefit costs to the USDA went from $74 billion under Trump in 2020 to $114 billion under Biden in 2022.
I think three conclusions are in order:
- We have 42 million people living in horrible, miserable conditions–who the hell can possibly pay housing, gas, food etc on $3000 a month for a family of four? I think they are essentially homeless and destitute. My God. Holy Crap. and WTF?
- From Trump to Biden, the number of destitute has increased by nearly 2.5 million people. I admit I did not vote for Biden. I admit I actually don’t like the guy and that I think he is a horrible President. But until now, I never knew how much I can actually hate somebody. What a horrible human being this man is with his Hunter Biden corruption and his Chinese business deals. All the while turning 2.5 million into people who cannot afford to live.
- The GOP who worked really hard to defeat Trump-Congratulations. You have just joined the “most horrible possible” human beings award for the next ten years.
I will keep looking for a “budget”. I think that what I am seeing is a deliberate effort to conceal, not reveal. The Democrats under Pelosi and Schumer just decided we don’t need to know what they are doing so they are deliberately obfuscating the numbers and refusing to do the oversight they are called upon to do.
To his credit, the new speaker announced he will no longer accept this “OMNIBUS” bill crap and will return to the budgetary process.
BUT REALLY RIGHT NOW, WHO CARES. LISTEN TO THIS SPEAKERS’ WORDS:
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Just think…we have sent over 100 billion dollars to defense contractors re Ukraine war. We have lined the pockets of every corrupt politician in the world. We have watched the Biden crime family pillage our national wealth. But the worst crime 0f all: THEY have killed the life, the dreams, the hopes of 2.5 million Americans and left them shivering in the back seat of their car hoping their food allowance of SNAP money can make it the end of the month. (Right in the dam USDA guidelines, they don’t count your car as a resource IF YOU ARE FRIGGIN LIVING IN IT).
To 2.5 MILLION-TO THE 42 MILLION- I apologize. I never knew how bad Biden, Pelosi, Schumer and McConnel really are.
I got plenty of corn bread and I make a good chili. I just need to find you. I plan to start looking right after I stop crying.
