# SNAP Budget Proposal - Is Individual Delivery of Food Packages Really Going to Save Money? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 13, 2018, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snap-budget-proposal-is-individual-delivery-of-food-packages-really-going-to-save-money/808794 "2018-02-13T21:56:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snap-budget-proposal-is-individual-delivery-of-food-packages-really-going-to-save-money/808794/281 "2018-02-16T17:36:16Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > To be fair, I can’t tell you precisely what their names are, is that what is important to you? Yes, it is important. That’s why I used the word “precisely”. AFAICT, “they were just trolling” and “this wasn’t a serious proposal” is just a story made up by liberals. If you have some evidence that disproves that, I’d be delighted to review it. If you’re just going to repeat the same theory without any cite, or evidence, I’m inclined to conclude that it is probably false. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snap-budget-proposal-is-individual-delivery-of-food-packages-really-going-to-save-money/808794/282 "2018-02-16T17:38:47Z")
> [@Airbeck](#): > > Cite is in post #202 > > You’ve been had. Could you quote the relevant parts of your cite here? Who said it was “not a real proposal” or that they were just trolling? ---
**Author:** ![Airbeck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/airbeck/32/6574_2.png) [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snap-budget-proposal-is-individual-delivery-of-food-packages-really-going-to-save-money/808794/283 "2018-02-16T17:39:55Z")
“story made up by liberals” :rolleyes: Yeah we are through the looking glass here folks. ---
**Author:** ![Airbeck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/airbeck/32/6574_2.png) [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snap-budget-proposal-is-individual-delivery-of-food-packages-really-going-to-save-money/808794/284 "2018-02-16T17:41:06Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Could you quote the relevant parts of your cite here? Who said it was “not a real proposal” or that they were just trolling? Same thing that was just quoted in post #279 I can point out reality to you, but I can’t make you accept it. That part is on you. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snap-budget-proposal-is-individual-delivery-of-food-packages-really-going-to-save-money/808794/285 "2018-02-16T17:44:09Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Yes, it is important. That’s why I used the word “precisely”. AFAICT, “they were just trolling” and “this wasn’t a serious proposal” is just a story made up by liberals. If you have some evidence that disproves that, I’d be delighted to review it. If you’re just going to repeat the same theory without any cite, or evidence, I’m inclined to conclude that it is probably false. Okay then. If you say that it is a serious proposal, you show me the numbers. You cite the numbers that show precisely how they are going to get the savings they are claiming. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snap-budget-proposal-is-individual-delivery-of-food-packages-really-going-to-save-money/808794/286 "2018-02-16T17:45:17Z")
> [@Airbeck](#): > > Same thing that was just quoted in post #279 > > I can point out reality to you, but I can’t make you accept it. That part is on you. So you’ve got two anonymous sources, according to a NYT reporter. Yup, that goes in my bullshit box. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snap-budget-proposal-is-individual-delivery-of-food-packages-really-going-to-save-money/808794/287 "2018-02-16T17:47:41Z")
Not sure what would be worse. That this was just made up bullshit ‘trolling’, or they where actually serious about this ridiculous idea. I suspect they saw the writing on the wall and came to realize what a stupid idea it was/is, and backpedaled - “Just Kidding!” ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snap-budget-proposal-is-individual-delivery-of-food-packages-really-going-to-save-money/808794/288 "2018-02-16T17:50:03Z")
What prevents pet food from being human consumable? I see that the cheapest mackerel cat food is only $.07/oz. That’s less than 1/2 the cost of tuna at retail! I’m sure wholesale bulk purchases would be even lower! Maybe they could even cut costs by 2/3rds! ---
**Author:** ![Airbeck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/airbeck/32/6574_2.png) [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snap-budget-proposal-is-individual-delivery-of-food-packages-really-going-to-save-money/808794/289 "2018-02-16T17:51:07Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > So you’ve got two anonymous sources, according to a NYT reporter. Yup, that goes in my bullshit box. It appears absolutely anything negative about the Trump administration goes into your bullshit box. I wonder if you were this hesitant to believe negative news stories about the Obama administration as well. Something tells me I already know the answer to that. Well, go ahead and keep wasting your time defending this non plan then. This will never ever happen. But you do you. Personally I’d be pissed off that my own party thinks so little of my intelligence, but that’s me. Your mileage obviously may vary. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snap-budget-proposal-is-individual-delivery-of-food-packages-really-going-to-save-money/808794/290 "2018-02-16T17:53:01Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Not sure what would be worse. That this was just made up bullshit ‘trolling’, or they where actually serious about this ridiculous idea. > > I suspect they saw the writing on the wall and came to realize what a stupid idea it was/is, and backpedaled - “Just Kidding!” AFAICT, nobody backpedaled and said “just kidding”. There’s a NYT story with a couple of anonymous sources that they claim it was “aimed at outraging liberals”. I’m skeptical of those anonymous sources, but anyways, the same story also says: > [@](#): > > In a statement, Mr. Perdue defended the proposal as humane and cost effective, saying his plan offered the “same level of food value” provided by the SNAP program … Does that sound like “just kidding” to you? ---
**Author:** ![Airbeck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/airbeck/32/6574_2.png) [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snap-budget-proposal-is-individual-delivery-of-food-packages-really-going-to-save-money/808794/291 "2018-02-16T17:56:06Z")
Sounds like typical politician BS. Is that something that you consider proof of anything? ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snap-budget-proposal-is-individual-delivery-of-food-packages-really-going-to-save-money/808794/292 "2018-02-16T17:56:47Z")
> [@Airbeck](#): > > Sounds like typical politician BS. Is that something that you consider proof of anything? I consider it pretty good evidence that Sonny Perdue is not backpedaling and saying “just kidding”. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snap-budget-proposal-is-individual-delivery-of-food-packages-really-going-to-save-money/808794/293 "2018-02-16T18:01:08Z")
It’s funny. **HurricaneDitka** has asked people in this thread to prove things yet we still don’t have any backup for his claim that the proposal will actually save $12.9B/yr. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snap-budget-proposal-is-individual-delivery-of-food-packages-really-going-to-save-money/808794/294 "2018-02-16T18:03:55Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > It’s funny. **HurricaneDitka** has asked people in this thread to prove things yet we still don’t have any backup for his claim that the proposal will actually save $12.9B/yr. We have an estimate from the USDA: > [@](#): > > This proposal would save $129.2 billion over the ten-year period between Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 and FY 2028. This estimate accounts for about $2.5 billion annually in additional administrative funds for states Seems like a good bit more than the “no it won’t” retorts I’ve seen so far (although, I give kudos to **Ravenman** for giving the best effort yet, but I don’t think the Amazon price for small retail purchases is really relevant). ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snap-budget-proposal-is-individual-delivery-of-food-packages-really-going-to-save-money/808794/295 "2018-02-16T18:11:50Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > So you’ve got two anonymous sources, according to a NYT reporter. Yup, that goes in my bullshit box. Let’s see. My take so far. A Republican or two, come up with a really stupid idea. Really stupid. Liberals point out how stupid it is. Republicans say, lol, I was trolling you’ll. Liberals say, it was the normal level of stupid expected from this administration so how could we not believe it? HD says. It’s really a good idea, so they won’t buy sodas and cookies. It’s really happening because fake news. ---
**Author:** ![Airbeck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/airbeck/32/6574_2.png) [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snap-budget-proposal-is-individual-delivery-of-food-packages-really-going-to-save-money/808794/296 "2018-02-16T18:12:08Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I consider it pretty good evidence that Sonny Perdue is not backpedaling and saying “just kidding”. So you consider a politician making an assertion as evidence that can itself be used as proof of something? Would you also consider statements by Democratic politicians as evidence to be used to prove things? Do you see the problem here? There seems to be some real miscalibrations in your credulousness sensors. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snap-budget-proposal-is-individual-delivery-of-food-packages-really-going-to-save-money/808794/297 "2018-02-16T18:15:32Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > … Republicans say, lol, I was trolling you’ll. … The Republican that proposed this, Sonny Perdue, didn’t say “lol I was trolling you” ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snap-budget-proposal-is-individual-delivery-of-food-packages-really-going-to-save-money/808794/298 "2018-02-16T18:19:48Z")
> [@Airbeck](#): > > So you consider a politician making an assertion as evidence that can itself be used as proof of something? … I’m inclined to believe that the USDA did in fact estimate the amount of money their proposal would save and concluded that it would be $129.2 billion. Knowing what we know about the government, their estimates are very likely to be off by some amount. That’s a different issue than the claim being made here that “they never made any cost estimates”. I think it’s fairly obvious _that_ claim is false. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snap-budget-proposal-is-individual-delivery-of-food-packages-really-going-to-save-money/808794/299 "2018-02-16T18:29:44Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > AFAICT, nobody backpedaled and said “just kidding”. There’s a NYT story with a couple of anonymous sources that they claim it was “aimed at outraging liberals”. Ah, anonymous sources. Obviously much less reliable than John Miller going on the record about how great Mr. Trump is. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snap-budget-proposal-is-individual-delivery-of-food-packages-really-going-to-save-money/808794/300 "2018-02-16T18:30:38Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > The Republican that proposed this, Sonny Perdue, didn’t say “lol I was trolling you” Okay, your call. This idea is: 1. A really great idea that will save money. 2. Just trolling for the lulz, or whatever. 3. Omnibus loaded with get off my lawn clippings that could be served to those in need. Which of those are they doing? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snap-budget-proposal-is-individual-delivery-of-food-packages-really-going-to-save-money/808794.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snap-budget-proposal-is-individual-delivery-of-food-packages-really-going-to-save-money/808794.md?page=16)