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  • throw0101a(3)

The Hunger Games Begin

(paulkrugman.substack.com)
41 points throw0101a | 26 comments | 31 Oct 25 18:16 UTC | HN request time: 1.559s | source | bottom
1. throw0101a ◴[31 Oct 25 18:17 UTC] No.45775013[source]▶
> Despite the government shutdown, the SNAP program isn’t out of money. In fact, it has $5 billion in contingency funds,[1] intended as a reserve to be tapped in emergencies. And if the imminent cutoff of crucial food aid for 40 million people isn’t an emergency, what is? The Department of Agriculture, which runs the program, also has the ability to maintain funding for a while by shifting other funds around. But Donald Trump has — quite possibly illegally — told the department not to tap those funds.[2]
2. throw0101a ◴[31 Oct 25 18:19 UTC] No.45775043[source]▶
See also perhaps a post from today:

> Why are these terrible things happening? At a basic level they’re happening because Republicans want them to happen. Drastic cuts in food stamps and health care programs were central planks in Project 2025, which is indeed the Trump administration’s policy platform, and were written into legislation in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that passed last summer.

[…]

> But there’s a further problem. Passing either a SNAP bill or a revised budget would require calling the House of Representatives back into session, which would in turn make it impossible for Mike Johnson, the speaker, to keep stalling the swearing-in of Adelita Grijalva, who won a special election more than 5 weeks ago.[1] And here’s the thing: Once sworn in, Grijalva would provide the decisive signature to trigger a vote in the House to release the Epstein files.[2]

* https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/too-cruel-too-soon

replies(2): >>45775362 #>>45778101 #
3. daft_pink ◴[31 Oct 25 18:49 UTC] No.45775354[source]▶
It’s really fascinating where the highest percentages are from that map.
replies(1): >>45776236 #
4. amarcheschi ◴[31 Oct 25 18:50 UTC] No.45775362[source]▶
Not American. Can this swearing in be deleted forever?
replies(1): >>45775420 #
5. JohnMakin ◴[31 Oct 25 18:54 UTC] No.45775397[source]▶
People are already scared - being rounded up (or threatened to be) on the street, military deployed to civilian neighborhoods, privacy overreaches that people are beginning to become aware of, stretching credit way beyond the point it should be stretched, barely making rent, sick - now you take away food? It's almost like this administration is trying to provoke a reaction. I can't think of an easier way to spark mass revolt, although I guess most snap recipients aren't probably of fighting age/fitness.
replies(2): >>45775515 #>>45779011 #
6. neaden ◴[31 Oct 25 18:56 UTC] No.45775420{3}[source]▶
Unclear, the AZ Attorney General is currently suing to compel Mike Johnson to swear her in and I believe there is an argument any federal judge could swear her in but it's unclear if congress would accept it if that happened.
replies(1): >>45776369 #
7. jmclnx ◴[31 Oct 25 18:57 UTC] No.45775434[source]▶
I thought I saw a judge rule snap must be funded.

edit: seems so:

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/federa...

replies(2): >>45775551 #>>45778910 #
8. cr125rider ◴[31 Oct 25 19:04 UTC] No.45775515[source]▶
1.2 million veterans are/were SNAP recipients

https://www.cbpp.org/research/food-assistance/snap-helps-12-...

replies(1): >>45776164 #
9. Jeremy1026 ◴[31 Oct 25 19:07 UTC] No.45775551[source]▶
Question is, will the administration listen to _this_ judge? I'm guessing no.
10. delichon ◴[31 Oct 25 20:03 UTC] No.45776111[source]▶
Hunger isn't the right word here. SNAP benefits are not correlated with greater calorie consumption. That's not to minimize the pain. They do increase food quality, and they pay for other essentials due to the fungibility of money. But the hunger part is an empty emotional appeal.
11. dgrin91 ◴[31 Oct 25 20:09 UTC] No.45776164{3}[source]▶
How many are past fighting age?
replies(1): >>45778903 #
12. delichon ◴[31 Oct 25 20:17 UTC] No.45776236[source]▶
It's a map of dependence and poverty. The most affected of my local counties are the ones with the highest indigenous populations. Those are also the bluest voting rural counties. Food credits are a lousy substitute for vast herds of buffalo.
13. cmurf ◴[31 Oct 25 20:30 UTC] No.45776369{4}[source]▶
Taxation without representation? Her constituents would seem to have standing.
14. docdeek ◴[31 Oct 25 20:36 UTC] No.45776427[source]▶
The author proposes three solutions: the GOP could change Senate rules to fund SNAP, the Republicans draw on the $5B fund that can sustain SNAP at least temporarily, or they can pass legislation in the House to fund SNAP.

Of course, a handful of Democrat Senators could also vote to end the shutdown and that would fund SNAP, and everything else, too, at least for a few more weeks.

Both sides seem dug in right now. It's still not clear who I'll blink first.

replies(1): >>45777734 #
15. jaybrendansmith ◴[31 Oct 25 23:12 UTC] No.45777734[source]▶
Actually, there is $500 billion that is REQUIRED to be used to fund SNAP. But Republicans are not activating it, because if they do, they need to bring congress back in session, and then they will be forced to vote on releasing the Epstein files. Get it?
replies(1): >>45779734 #
16. pragmatic ◴[31 Oct 25 23:15 UTC] No.45777763[source]▶
Of course it's flagged, lol hacker news.
replies(1): >>45781423 #
17. smitty1e ◴[01 Nov 25 00:12 UTC] No.45778101[source]▶
> At a basic level they’re happening because Republicans want them to happen.

At a basic level they're happening because 9A and 10A have been cheerfully ignored for a very long time:

https://grokipedia.com/page/United_States_Bill_of_Rights#nin...

https://grokipedia.com/page/United_States_Bill_of_Rights#ten...

The last century has been a slow tale of scope- and debt-creep.

“If something cannot go on forever, it will stop.” ― Herbert Stein, What I Think: Essays on Economics, Politics, and Life

18. bdangubic ◴[01 Nov 25 02:58 UTC] No.45778903{4}[source]▶
once a baller always a baller
19. bdangubic ◴[01 Nov 25 03:00 UTC] No.45778910[source]▶
what judges rule makes as much difference these days as what my daughter rules - neat and cute for a minute :)
20. CamperBob2 ◴[01 Nov 25 03:22 UTC] No.45779011[source]▶
I can't think of an easier way to spark mass revolt

Neither can the Trump administration, which is why they're doing it.

It's almost like this administration is trying to provoke a reaction.

That is precisely what they are trying to do. See the Project 2025 documents. They are trying to justify invocation of the Insurrection Act.

21. docdeek ◴[01 Nov 25 06:56 UTC] No.45779734{3}[source]▶
I'm not from the US but as I understand it, if the Democrats voted to reopen the government, wouldn't that also release the funds for SNAP and bring Congress back in session so that the Epstein files vote in the House could take place?
replies(1): >>45782995 #
22. ◴[01 Nov 25 07:39 UTC] No.45779880[source]▶
23. sph ◴[01 Nov 25 13:18 UTC] No.45781423[source]▶
Unsurprising given the comments from its new CEO.
24. jaybrendansmith ◴[01 Nov 25 16:32 UTC] No.45782995{4}[source]▶
The point is they should not have to. The funds were already appropriated by congress. This is a political maneuver by the Republicans to avoid bringing congress back into session, because they want to give the justice department time to redact the Epstein files and remove all evidence of Trump. We all know he's a pedophile and a rapist already, but the Trump base doesn't want to believe it. You simply cannot make this stuff up, it reads like a ridiculous Hollywood script. This article lays it all out plainly in black and white, for all the good that it will do.
25. burnt-resistor ◴[01 Nov 25 23:59 UTC] No.45786658[source]▶
It's hurting farmers and small town local economies hard too.

Perhaps the precariat will partially awaken to the fact that the country club set on both teams doesn't give two shits about them, although parts of the limousine blue team claim to or may care slightly more but not enough to ensure universal healthcare or a decent standard of living for the 99%. Mamdani offers a glimmer of hope in a local, limited, and likely temporary manner when the 800 lbs. gorilla of corruption, brutality, and oppression continues at every level elsewhere.