News Sheet

SNAP Errors, Bureaucratic Blame, and Government Gone Wild

old and obsolete computers ready to recycling depot
old and obsolete computers ready to recycling depot
Written by Scott K. James

Colorado’s SNAP error rate is nearly 10%, but don’t worry—three state agencies are too busy pointing fingers to fix it. We don’t need more government. We need more God.

Under Jared Polis’s cracked leadership, Colorado’s SNAP (that’s food stamps for anyone not buried in acronym soup) screw-up rate is making national headlines—and not the good kind. Denver7 reports the state is clocking a whopping 10% error rate on SNAP payments, well above the 6% cut-off highlighted in Trump’s appropriately titled “One Big Beautiful Bill.” The piece — courtesy of a round of Republican pushback — peels back the curtain on bureaucratic rot while Democrats clutch pearls crying that children will starve.

The Bullet Point Brief

  • SNAP fraud and payment errors have ballooned under Jared Polis’s watch—because heaven forbid anything run correctly in government.
  • Colorado’s error rate sits at an embarrassing 10%, way over the line set by Trump’s accountability bill.
  • The technology driving it all? A Frankenstein program “managed” by three state departments who treat blame like a hot potato.
  • Democrats are claiming Trump’s bill will make people go hungry—but maybe start with fixing your bloated system first, geniuses.
  • Food banks warn of longer lines… but somehow nobody asks why everything is so dependent on broken bureaucracy in the first place.

My Bottom Line

Let me break it down like a gospel tent sermon after a bureaucratic hangover: Colorado’s SNAP system is busted because it was built to be busted. I’m on something most folks don’t know exists—the CBMS ESC (God bless that acronym stew). That’s the team overseeing our glorious computer system for benefits across the state. And lemme tell ya, this thing makes dial-up internet look like SpaceX. Three separate state departments share control of this software hydra, which means when something breaks (as it always does), they spend more time pointing fingers than actually fixing anything. It’s like a bad sitcom reboot—except no one’s laughing and taxpayers are footing every slapstick episode.

Now listen—I respect our frontline eligibility workers across counties. They’re doing their best with duct tape and data nightmares stitched together by folks who think software grows on trees next to regulation mandarins. But here’s what burns me: when these predictable tech failures cause mistakes, Democrats flail around screeching about starving kids and blaming Trump faster than you can say ‘safety net.’ Well guess what? That one finger they’re waving at Mar-a-Lago? They have three aimed right back at themselves.

If you want fewer people struggling to eat, maybe stop relying on broken big government programs and start rebuilding community—through faith, churches, neighbors helping neighbors. Newsflash: charity worked before the alphabet soup agencies rolled in with their forms and fail rates, and the government started cancelling God in society.

Here’s the real truth they don’t want televised: Our crisis isn’t because we have too little government—it’s because we have too little God. When society depends entirely on Uncle Sam to feed its children instead of family, church, and neighborly decency—we’ve already lost more than just a few dollars in payment errors. Big bloated computer system or not.

About the author

Scott K. James

A 4th generation Northern Colorado native, Scott K. James is a veteran broadcaster, professional communicator, and principled leader. Widely recognized for his thoughtful, common-sense approach to addressing issues that affect families, businesses, and communities, Scott, his wife, Julie, and son, Jack, call Johnstown, Colorado, home. A former mayor of Johnstown, James is a staunch defender of the Constitution and the rule of law, the free market, and the power of the individual. Scott has delighted in a lifetime of public service and continues that service as a Weld County Commissioner representing District 2.