Food stamps 'SNAP' back into debate about spending

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The cost of Food Stamps, or SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), has ballooned the past two decades. It went from having a price tag of $17 billion in 2000 to costing $71 billion last year.

That’s why President Trump said he wants to clamp down on government-subsidy programs. Trump brought up the controversial issue during his speech to Congress on Tuesday, when he said “over 43 million people are now living in poverty. And over 43 million Americans are on food stamps.”

Trump has long been a proponent of scaling back welfare programs. In his 2011 book, “Time to Get Tough,” he wrote that while the programs are necessary, too many people become dependent on them.

"The food stamp program was originally created as temporary assistance for families with momentary times of need,” he wrote in his book. ”And it shouldn't be needed often.”

Many believe government assistance programs are too often abused and they need to be reformed to cut down on fraud. But others say that any changes to SNAP could cut off access to people who really need it, and they vow to vehemently fight any effort to alter it.