Mastodawn

"The official website of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) claims that on November 1, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will run out of funding. ...

But 'the well' has not 'run dry' on SNAP. The program has a reserve of about $6 billion that could fully fund SNAP for several more weeks."

~ Judd Legum, Rebecca Crosby, and Noel Sims

#Trump #Republicans #shutdown #food #hunger #children #SNAP #USDA #cruelty
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Choosing to let kids go hungry

The USDA asserts that Democrats are blocking funding to secure “health care for illegal immigrants” and funding for “gender mutilation procedures.” All of these claims are false.

Popular Information

"The USDA’s current position is that these funds 'are not legally available to cover regular benefits' and can only be used to provide nutrition assistance in response to a national disaster or other emergency.

This, however, directly contradicts guidance that the USDA issued on September 30 which explicitly states that contingency funds can be used for regular benefits."

#Trump #Republicans #shutdown #food #hunger #children #SNAP #USDA #cruelty
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Adam Rosenberg

@wdlindsy It's really sad but when you're 38 trillion dollars in debt, people stop taking your checks!

@boig The connection between choosing to starve your own people and national debt is what, precisely? Nothing I've read anywhere shows that the decision to withhold food support to US citizens is because the country's checks are not being honored elsewhere. Sounds like a red-herring argument that supports the cruelty of a fascist regime.

Adam Rosenberg Oct 29

@wdlindsy America is out of money. When you have this much debt, and no way to pay it off, you have trouble getting low-cost loans. There's going to be some belt-tightening, sad to say!

@boig Have you looked at the military budget and the budget for ICE lately? America is not out of money. It chooses where its money goes, as Republicans did with the big, beautiful bill that massively moves wealth up to the already obscenely rich and lavishes grossly disproportionate funds on ICE while removing food support and healthcare coverage for millions of citizens.

Adam Rosenberg Oct 29

@wdlindsy How much money does SNAP require? What about Obamacare? HUD? ICE is not cheap but even if we paid nothing there, America would still be broke. I'm sad to say it because I believe in care for the poor and heartbroken. We are out of bucks though!

@boig The richest nation in the world, which can lavish billions and billions on ICE and the military and give enormous tax cuts to the super-rich, is out of money, but which can't find money to assure that its citizens don't go hungry is out of money?

Do tell.

matlag Oct 29

@boig @wdlindsy A country is never "out of money". Its debt has nothing to do with a personal debt. Debt for a country is actually a requirement to do absolutely anything, from the first dollar spent.

High debt is only a problem if you don't have growth, the ratio of your interest to budget increases. And if you print more money to compensate, you may increase the inflation.

As for how fast debt increase: Trump cut taxes for the ultra-rich then increased the military budget, and spend a shitload of money on ICE while part of the US economy actually depends on migrant workers. It's not conservatism, it's all out reckless spending.

Cutting SNAP could have rippling effects on the emonomy as that money is spent locally.

And here we're not even mentioning the most embarassing part: a third-world level starvation crisis.

Will the US actually need humanitarian aid??