COSM’s commentary page is home to timely analysis of pressing topics.
The number of people receiving food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has declined in recent months, with suggestions that declines are due to the Republican-backed reconciliation bill passed in July 2025. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA or P.L. 119-21) made several changes to SNAP, including…
April 28, 2026 | By Angela Rachidi
“Clinics” with suspect professional credentials running up bills for publicly-insured low-income patients. Outlandish claim volumes for questionable services, including unneeded tests and consultations. Harmful and abusive treatment of patients in some cases. And then the understandable outrage in Washington, DC that no one at the state level seems to notice…
March 25, 2026 | By James C. Capretta
Today the Center on Opportunity and Social Mobility at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) is releasing Opportunity Book, a new online tool that connects policymakers, journalists, and researchers with innovative federal policy ideas. Opportunity Book is a publicly available database that launches with 38 individual policies related to opportunity from…
March 25, 2026 | By Scott Winship and Kevin Corinth
This commentary reviews current means-tested federal benefit programs designed to assist low-income individuals and families. The large number of those programs is amplified by similar state and local programs as well as by closely associated temporary federal programs created during recessions. During the recent pandemic, the number, scope, and spending…
March 23, 2026 | By Matt Weidinger
Despite more than $60 billion in annual federal spending on rental assistance, only one in four eligible families actually receives it. Recipient families receive, on average, more than $1,000 in federal aid each month, and because there is no time limit they typically remain on the program for over a…
March 16, 2026 | By Kevin Corinth
This week, senior House and Senate Members are introducing legislation designed to prevent a repeat of runaway fraud and abuse that afflicted…
March 5, 2026 | By Matt Weidinger
Let me start with the chart: Median pre-tax earnings of men ages 25-29 rose 24 percent ($10,800) from 1973 to 2024, and median post-tax compensation rose 40 percent ($15,500). The gains from 1989 to 2024 were 42 percent ($16,300) and 46 percent ($17,000). A few years ago (2022), I wrote…
February 26, 2026 | By Scott Winship
Matt Weidinger’s December 2025 commentary argued persuasively that complexity has become an impediment to rational reform of the nation’s safety net. By approving scores of new programs across several decades, Congress and the states have assembled such an unwieldy and uncoordinated anti-poverty portfolio that policymakers have difficulty fully grasping what…
February 9, 2026 | By James C. Capretta
Hunger in the United States, as most people understand it, is thankfully rare. According to the most recent Household Food Security in the United States report, approximately 5 percent of US households had “very low food security” at some point in 2024. This measure, defined as reduced food intake due…
February 3, 2026 | By Angela Rachidi
Last week, the Republican Study Committee released a legislative framework intended to make the American Dream more affordable. The goal is laudable, and many of the ideas are sound. But among the ideas that should be sent to the chopping block is a proposal to allow stay-at-home parents to claim…
January 22, 2026 | By Kevin Corinth
May 1, 2026 | Kevin Corinth
Overview The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) posted a notice of proposed rulemaking on March 2, 2026 (Docket No. FR-6520-P-01), entitled, “Establishing Flexibility for Implementation of Work Requirements and Term Limits,” hereafter the “Proposed Rule.” The Proposed Rule would allow, but not require, eligible Public Housing...
April 30, 2026 | Scott Winship
In a recent with Stephen Rose, I argued that the narrative of a “shrinking middle class” was based on a kernel of truth, but one that undermines economic pessimism. We showed that while 36 percent of families were part of what we called the “core middle class” in 1979, the share...
April 29, 2026 | Angela Rachidi
Abstract The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has grown substantially since the turn of the century, providing food assistance to more than 40 million individuals per month in recent years. Using data from the SNAP Quality Control dataset, I analyzed changes in SNAP households and participants from fiscal year (FY)...
April 28, 2026 | Angela Rachidi
The number of people receiving food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has declined in recent months, with suggestions that declines are due to the Republican-backed reconciliation bill passed in July 2025. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA or P.L. 119-21) made several changes to SNAP, including...