• Boy Culture: Florida State Rep. Fabian Basabe (above) has been found liable for sexually harassing 2 staffers and committed battery against both. Basabe was ordered by the jury to pay the young men $450,000 for their pain and suffering. And yet, he has not resigned and is running for re-election.
• Semafor: Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) threatened to block Trump’s nominees for ambassadorships unless the White House provides proof that it has distributed approved funds for the President’s Emergency Plan For Aids Relief (PEPFAR), a federal program to reduce HIV transmissions worldwide that has saved an estimated 26 million lives since its launch in 2003. Continue reading “Florida State Rep Found Liable For Sexual Harassment + More”
• JoeMyGod: Donald Trump raged on his failing Truth Social platform about the upcoming statewide vote on Prop 50 which will approve a new congressional map giving Democrats possibly 5 more seats in Congress. A recent CBS News poll showed 62% of likely voters support the measure.
(photo: Nick Fewings/Unsplash) Some news items you might have missed: • CNN: Cal-Maine Foods, the largest egg producer in the United States, reported revenue doubled and profit surged 718% last quarter because of sharply higher egg prices. (Some people might call this price gouging…)Continue reading “News: Egg Producer Doubles Revenue + Kentucky + Banning Drag”
The Biden administration has approved the largest increase to food assistance benefits in SNAP program history. Benefits will rise by 25 percent on average, a level food advocates say better reflects the modern cost of a basic diet. Continue reading “SNAP Food Assistance Program Gets 25% Increase & Update”
The Trump administration is set to announce a new set of guidelines that would remove approximately 3.1 million people from receiving food stamps, also known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
Those most affected would be low-income families, seniors and people with disabilities.
Currently, 43 U.S. states allow residents to automatically become eligible for food stamps through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, if they receive benefits from another federal program known as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, according to the USDA.
But the agency wants to require people who receive TANF benefits to pass a review of their income and assets to determine whether they are eligible for free food from SNAP, officials said.
If enacted, the rule would save the federal government about $2.5 billion a year by removing people from SNAP, according to the USDA.
President Trump has said that, given the current economy and low unemployment, many of those currently accessing SNAP don’t need it. Their removal could save nearly $15 billion a year.
There are currently about 36 million Americans, or about 12% of the total U.S. population, that received aid through the SNAP program. The average benefit per person is $121 a month.
This guy wants to make sure SNAP recipients eat healthy
Stop the presses – we’ve now found the worst idea of the day.
Just now coming to light as part of Donald Trump’s proposed budget is a proposal to cut food stamp recipient’s funds in half and replace that with boxes of canned meats and fruits as well as shelf-stable milk.
The administration says it will help ensure that people only eat healthy food like the guy at the top of this post.
White House OMB Director Mick Mulvaney on Monday hailed the idea as one that kept up with the modern era, calling it a “Blue Apron-type program” — a nod to the high-end meal kit delivery company that had one of the worst stock debuts in 2017 and has struggled to hold onto customers. Mulvaney said the administration’s plan would not only save the government money, but also provide people with more nutritious food than they have now.
The proposal, buried in the White House’s fiscal 2019 budget, would replace about half of the money most families receive via the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps, with what the Department of Agriculture is calling “America’s Harvest Box.” That package would be made up of “100 percent U.S. grown and produced food” and would include items like shelf-stable milk, peanut butter, canned fruits and meats, and cereal.
But America’s Harvest Box, which USDA contends would save over $129 billion over 10 years, is not very comparable to startup meal-delivery companies like Blue Apron. For one, the Trump administration’s proposal doesn’t include fresh items, like produce or meat, which are the core of Blue Apron and its competitors. Such products perish quickly and are incredibly expensive to ship.
A few obvious problems here. USDA spokesman Tim Murtaugh says that it would be left to states to decide how to deliver the “Harvest Boxes.” In other words, the government would pass the cost of delivering these boxes – many to rural areas – to the states. I’ll bet states are going to love that extra budgetary line item.
Also, the federal government has no logistical mechanism set up to do any of this. So, the federal bureaucracy conservatives hate would have to expand even more.
And, the impact on the grocery store industry – where food stamps purchases make up 7.5% of all sales – would be huge. According to reports, Walmart alone nabs 20% of food stamp sales.
You could guess that perhaps the administration is simply trying to make accepting food stamps as unattractive an option as possible.
Proposing that we cut food stamps and ship a box of government canned goods to poor families to save money right after they pass a $1.5 trillion tax cut for corporations and the wealthy is so vulgar and obvious I don’t know what to say.
1. What if you don’t receive your box one month? 2. What if you’re homeless? 3. What if you don’t have a place to receive mail? 4. What if you move frequently? 5. What if you have allergies? 6. What if the box gets wet, or animals get into it?
7. What if your kid is a fussy eater? 8. What if you’re a fussy eater? 9. What about the end of the month? 10. Will the value be the same? 11. What about the stores in your town? 12. What about fresh fruits and veggies? 13. What if you don’t have electricity or gas to cook?
I grew up on food stamps, if not for the fresh fruit & veg you could get (when available) I might not have done ok as a kid. This is punishing people for being poor. Poverty is not a moral failing, stop hurting people for not having money. https://t.co/amU004F8rO
