Bombs, Or Bread?
The Pentagon estimates that the U.S. war in Iran will cost $37.5 billion by September. A figure so immense is hard to grasp. Here’s one way to think about it:
According to the Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service:
- $1 billion would fund SNAP nutrition assistance for nearly 400,000 people.
- So $37.5 billion for the Iran war could instead fund SNAP nutrition assistance for nearly 15 million people.[1]
This at a time when the nonpartisan Urban Institute reports 1 in 4 of adults last year experienced food insecurity. And a time when new restrictions on SNAP benefits have already ended aid to some 4 million of the 40 million low-income Americans who depend on it.
Granted, there is doubtless some “waste, fraud, and abuse” in the SNAP program. But what about the “waste, fraud, and abuse” of an elective war in Iran?
When I consider the math the choice seems clear:
Pass the ammo, or pass the bread?
[1] Independent agencies like Iran War Cost Tracker estimate the actual cost of the Iran war will top $113 billion, which could totally fund assistance for every SNAP recipient.
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