[dragonwriter]

> Nearly 2/3rd of the federal budget is for social programs.

Not all social programs are safety net programs; notably age- and work-related public healthcare isn't, and neither is work-qualified public pension.

And also a lot of the social spending (safety net or not) is the public portion of the US’s stupendously inefficient hybrid public/private health care system, so even the safety net portions of that (mainly Medicaid) give very little safety net for the money.

By the standards of the developed West, the US has a very weak safety net, however much money it might spend on public social programs.

[refurb]

Not all social programs are safety net programs; notably age- and work-related public healthcare isn't, and neither is work-qualified public pension.

Care to source that definition? Social-security, Medicare and Medicaid were all developed as "safety nets".