Yeah, this is a little like going “underemployment hit record highs” and treating it like a celebration. It’s great the program exists, but the fact that it needs to exist is utterly fucked. We shouldn’t be treating this as a win. It’s a sign that things are really fucking dire. They’re celebrating the fact that people are being forced to use an ultra expensive safety net, instead of just fixing the system that necessitates the need for the safety net in the first place.
Imagine a headline that said “Food Bank Usage Sets Another Record Even As Trump Threatens The Law Yet Again” instead, because it’s essentially the same thing in a different wrapper. It’s great the program exists as a stopgap, but holy shit this is bad news. This is some straight up Orphan Crushing Machine stuff.