CBPP on WIC expenses

WOMEN AND CHILDREN LAST House Republicans are pushing forward with their “shared sacrifice” agenda. Today, they're asking newborns and low-income women to pitch in: The House is expected to vote on a proposal to cut the Women, Infants and Children program, which helps about 9 million mothers and their young children, by 13 percent. The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that up to 350,000 food-assistance recipients would be cut off if the measure passes. At the same time, the House is also debating a bill to increase the Pentagon’s budget by $17 billion -- even though Defense already makes up more than 50 percent of discretionary federal spending. Hey, maybe they’ll make their sacrifice next year.

The American Prospect has a nice summary of the modern GOP's agenda:What does the increasingly isolationist GOP want with the extra Pentagon money, anyway?

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CBPP on WIC expenses

The House is scheduled to vote today on a measure to slash funding for the WIC nutrition program, which (as we have shown) would force the program to turn away at least 200,000 to 350,000 eligible low-income women and children next year. The Appropriations Committee approved this unprecedented cut last month, in part based on the claim that more than 40 percent of WIC costs go to program administration. But this claim is flatly false, as our new paper shows. In reality, only about 9 percent of federal funds for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) go to administrative costs, and these costs represent only about 6 percent of the program’s total cost (see graph).

It isn't just that screwing people in need is the GOP agenda. It's where they want to spend the money. If you don't have money already, you need not apply.