Feeding the Pentagon, starving the poor: The class politics of the 2025 U.S. budget

Every dollar in SNAP benefits generates about $1.80 in economic activity. When people use SNAP at grocery stores, that money circulates in the community. It helps pay workers’ wages, covers rent and utilities for local businesses, and supports farms and food suppliers. In some rural communities, SNAP purchases can make up 20% of a store’s sales. If those benefits are cut back or interrupted, small grocery stores in these areas may be forced to close. When that happens, entire communities can lose their only nearby place to buy food. While this program that supports poor and working-class communities is being choked off, the Pentagon budget–which concentrates money in a small circle of giant military corporations–is expanding rapidly. That is not a sign of economic confusion. It is a sign of deliberate class policy.