On Monday, Donald Trump released the second budget proposal of his presidency.

There's lots in it, more money for defense, veterans, and border security, and some tax changes, too.

But what really jumps out is their proposal to cut funding for federal assistance programs,

including a 20% cut to Section 8 housing, a 22% cut to Medicaid,

and a 27% cut to SNAP, the benefit formerly known as food stamps.

Bobby Kogan, who on Twitter identifies himself as the chief numbers cruncher for the Senate

Budget Committee,

points out that SNAP benefits are already small, just $1.40 per meal,

and that, quote, cutting the program by a quarter is extremely cruel.

And indeed, the proposed cuts triggered outrage from advocates for the poor.

But the fact is that the social safety net

already had big gaping holes in it, and the poor have been falling through them for years.

In the fall of 2016, we aired a series called Busted, America's Poverty Myths. We dealt with the three

central myths of poverty as we see them,

that the poor deserve to be poor, that you can pull yourself up by your bootstraps,

and the one we're going to play for you now. The myth that America's social safety net,

though imperfect, still is able to catch people in economic freefall before they slam the pavement.

But there's no way to confront that myth without conveying how that sounds.

So prepare yourself for the narrative equivalent of Boom Splat.

You may have heard of GoFundMe, the crowdfunding platform where people donate money for projects or to help others in need, even assuming that some of these campaigns are scams, the volume of heart-wrenching appeals from families ravaged by fires, floods, accidents, illness, and death itself is staggering.

A family still in shock and in need of help.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to assist the family.

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