Trump famine
Oops no food for you next month, sorry, start saving those bread crusts now.
The US Department of Agriculture says it will not tap into its $6 billion contingency fund to cover food stamp benefits next month, according to an agency memo obtained by CNN. That means that roughly 42 million Americans will not receive critical food assistance from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, in November, unless the agency shifts its position.
Never mind. It’s only a month.
The loss of the critical safety net program ramps up pressure on Congress to end the federal government shutdown, which began on October 1, by agreeing to a federal spending package. Democrats have said they will not support a short-term spending bill unless it includes an extension of the enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies.
Stick it to the non-plutocrats one way or another. That’s the beauty of Trump and trumpism: steal from the poor and give it to the rich.
About one in eight Americans receive help buying food through SNAP. A key pillar of the nation’s safety net, the program provides enrollees with an average monthly benefit of $188 per person, as of May.
The food stamp program is the second nutrition assistance lifeline at risk of running out of money amid the ongoing standoff on Capitol Hill.
Never mind. It’s good for the character.
Trump probably loves starving children. It makes him feel tough.
You know who else will be hurting? Small businesses and grocery stores that rely on their customers being able to buy food, farmers and distributors and the neighborhoods where these businesses are located. I can see my local ALDI being nearly emply next month, and the big grocery store next door will suffer.
Farmers, too, will lose out. Not just beef, but the sugar beets are about to come in and Crystal Sugar, a co-op will have trouble finding markets since the tariffs have alienated their customers in Canada and overseas. We are careening in a rudderless ship with an insane navigator and a megalomaniac captain.
As we have learned in countries like Greece, when it had to be bailed out by the EU, austerity programs are disastrous for the economy as a whole. And especially for an economy that is being taxed with tariffs. I don’t know what Vought’s end game is, but prosperity is not it. BIllionaires lose their customers when people can’t buy stuff.
There is a contingency fund for government shutdowns like this to continue SNAP funding. This is purely an exercise to get the Democrats to fold and pass the continuing resolution.
Mike, that is so right. The farmers here in Nebraska are already angry about losing subsidies; when SNAP goes away, they won’t be able to make money. If it wasn’t for the rest of us being in the cross-hairs, I would say good, since these farmers voted for the megalomaniacal captain (love that phrase). They voted for the Congress people who are right on board with Trump. At some point, I wish someone would line them up, and make them write on the board three million times: This is what democracy looks like or I voted for my income to go away