Back in 2014 Paul Ryan declared that the War on Poverty had failed, so it was time to slash spending on anti-poverty programs. Last week the Trump Council of Economic Advisers declared not only that the War on Poverty has in fact substantially reduced poverty – which is what progressives have been saying all along – but that poverty is “largely over”. (Do these people ever visit the real world?)

And because poverty is over, they say, we should impose lots of work requirements on Medicaid and food stamps, which would have the effect of slashing spending on these programs. Somehow a completely opposite reading of the facts leads to the same policy conclusion. Funny how that works.

But are benefits like Medicaid and food stamps really discouraging a lot of people from working? One way to answer that question is to look at who is receiving benefits without working. The White House analysis claims that many of those non-working adults could work; but I put a lot more trust in the Kaiser Family Foundation, which finds only a small number of potential workers among benefit recipients.