Food prices have soared since President Biden took office, with countless American families facing sticker shock at the grocery store checkout. This isn’t entirely Biden’s fault, of course, but a new study suggests that one of Biden’s policies may have led food prices to increase by 15%.
The nonpartisan Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA) just released a new report analyzing Biden’s expansion of food stamp benefits and the many unintended consequences it has had for taxpayers and shoppers alike. They report that upon taking office, Biden circumvented Congress to force through a 27% increase in food stamp benefits, “violat[ing] internal control standards, cancel[ing] formal peer-review processes, and even ignor[ing] its chief economist to expedite the expansion.”
The result has been a huge increase in food stamp spending, at taxpayers’ expense. Rolling back the expansion could save taxpayers $193 billion over the next 10 years, per the study.
But it’s done more than just further burdened taxpayers. This massive (and arguably unlawful) expansion of food stamps has, predictably, contributed to the huge increase in food prices.
Indeed, drawing on research from the World Bank, the new study estimates that while not all the overall increase in food prices is due to food stamp expansion, when you exclude other factors, food prices have gone up by about 15% due to the policy change. (This fits in with a common trend in economics where government subsidies intended to make things more affordable actually end up increasing prices as businesses jack up prices in response to the artificially-inflated demand.)
“USDA cooked their books to hike food stamp benefits by 27% — the largest permanent increase in program history. And they bypassed Congress to do it,” FGA Vice President of Policy and Research Jonathan Ingram told Fox News. “Data show the Biden administration’s overreach led to massive spikes in grocery prices. They’re feeding inflation, not stopping hunger.”
Remember these inconvenient facts the next time President Biden tries to blame inflation on corporate greed, Putin, or some other scapegoat.
Like this article? Check out the latest BASEDPolitics podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or below:
