WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th September, 2022) A number of US lawmakers expressed their outrage following the US Army's suggestion for soldiers to take advantage of food stamps amid high food prices, Fox news reported.
The US Army has recently released new guidance for soldiers who experience financial problems and suggested they apply for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as food stamps, which provides food-purchasing assistance to low-income households.
With inflation affecting everything from gas prices to groceries to rent, some soldiers and their families are finding it harder to get by on the budgets the have set and used before, the report cited Sgt. Maj. Michael Grinston as saying in the guidance on Monday.
Soldiers of all ranks can seek guidance, assistance, and advice through the Army's Financial Readiness Program, the report said.
SNAP is one of the assistance types provided by the Army's Financial Readiness Program with income eligibility ranging from a gross monthly income of $1,396 for a household of one to $4,839 for a household of eight, the report said.
US Congressman French Hill called the situation "crazy," while Congresswoman Nancy Mace called it "insanity," the report said.
President Joe Biden has ushered in a whole new level of entitlement in our culture in the United States and has created a new level of moral hazard, the report cited Congressman Jodey Arrington as saying.
Arrington added in the report that the new move is "horrible" and "par for the course for bailout Biden."
The US Defense Department's discretionary budget authority for the fiscal year 2022 is $722 billion while the total military spending is more than $800 billion. The United States spends more on national defense than China, India, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Germany, France, Japan, South Korea and the United Kingdom combined.
