Jeb Bush, whose handlers should be fired for failing to heroically leap in front of the photographer before this stunningly Shining-like photo above was snapped on Tuesday, has shifted his campaign into movie villain mode. His new welfare plan calls for the total elimination of SNAP, the federal food stamps program.

Bush’s plan, rolled out today, would also dismantle federal housing assistance programs and TANF, a federal program that provides cash assistance to needy families. The money would be funneled to grants for states to develop their own welfare programs, meaning that anti-welfare state officials—such as Paul LePage, the totally not racist governor of Maine—would be free to drastically cut back the assistance their less fortunate constituents receive.

Reuters speculates that the move has to do with Bush’s effort to “position himself as the most serious, substantive candidate” in the 2016 GOP race, and it’s true: nothing says “conservative bona fides” like transparent contempt for the poor. It probably also has to do with the fact that his current poll numbers are just barely enough to keep him on the main stage for next Thursday’s debate.

Image via AP. Contact the author at andy@gawker.com.