We’re all for making sure that people don’t go hungry at night in a rich country like the United States. But whatever happened to helping those who help themselves? And we don’t mean help themselves to the taxpayer’s wallet.

Food stamp spending has declined only slightly from its towering pandemic-era heights, still up roughly 60% from 2019 after adjusting for inflation. It has more than tripled in real terms from pre-Obama levels.

Budget expert Matt Dickerson with the fiscal watchdog group EPIC, finds that more than half of food stamp recipients are of working age and are able-bodied but aren’t working. New modest federal work requirements have begun to kick in, but most blue state pols aren’t enforcing that law or have waived the mandate. Democrats view food stamps as an economic stimulus and/or virtuous income redistribution.

The villain here is the Biden administration (and Congress) that refuses to mandate work for welfare. This was a hallmark of the Clinton administration reforms in 1996. Now work requirements are regarded as cruel.

To whom?