Summary

House Republicans are considering a 20% cut to SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits, impacting over 22 million households, as part of a $5 trillion deficit reduction plan.

The proposed changes to SNAP would save $247 billion over a decade by rolling back a Biden-era increase tied to the USDA’s “thrifty food plan.”

Critics argue the cuts could harm vulnerable populations and reduce demand for food production, while Republicans view the changes as a way to curb spending and encourage employment.

  • OutlierBlue@lemmy.ca
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    19 hours ago

    Republicans considering cutting SNAP benefits as part of deficit reduction plan hurting the poors

  • foggy@lemmy.world
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    20 hours ago

    This is short sighted.

    Hungry folks’ anger knows no limits. They have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

  • adarza@lemmy.ca
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    24 hours ago

    since when do they give a fuck about the deficit?

    oh, right. it’s their battle cry when they’re trying to hurt (the ‘right’) people by cutting essential services.

    then they pat themselves on the back as they cut taxes for the wealthy by far more than was ‘saved’.

    • EisFrei@lemmy.world
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      22 hours ago

      https://www.milwaukeeindependent.com/thom-hartmann/two-santas-strategy-gop-used-economic-scam-manipulate-americans-40-years/

      First, the Two Santas strategy dictates, when Republicans control the White House they must spend money like a drunken Santa and cut taxes to run up the U.S. debt as far and as fast as possible.

      This produces three results: it stimulates the economy thus making people think that the GOP can produce a good economy; it raises the debt dramatically; and it makes people think that Republicans are the “tax-cut Santa Clauses.”

      Second, when a Democrat is in the White House, Republicans must scream about the national debt as loudly and frantically as possible, freaking out about how “our children will have to pay for it!” and “we have to cut spending to solve the crisis!” Shut down the government, crash the stock market, and damage US credibility around the world if necessary to stop Democrats from spending money.

      This will force the Democrats in power to cut their own social safety net programs and even Social Security, thus shooting their welfare-of-the-American-people Santa Claus right in the face.

    • lemmylommy@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      Well, prices are so high because too many people are demanding food. Let some starve to death, boom, less demand and lower prices. Get two birds stoned at once. The second bird being MAGA reveling in other people’s suffering.

  • ShittyBeatlesFCPres@lemmy.world
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    24 hours ago

    Wait until they find out the SNAP program (aka food stamps) is run by the Department of Agriculture because it’s about increasing demand for agricultural products, not helping the poor. For comparison, TANF (aka welfare) is under the Department of Health and Human Services.

    • meyotch@slrpnk.net
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      16 hours ago

      Right, it’s not just the poor lobby that cares about snap. The farmers rely on it a a form of price support. Large landowners have better lobbyists than the poors.

  • Limonene@lemmy.world
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    24 hours ago

    SNAP pays out almost nothing already. You can’t eat on $292 per month, especially if you’re poor enough that you actually qualify for SNAP.

    • NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world
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      24 hours ago

      Is that amount for a family, cause I can definitely eat on $292 a month in a very expensive city. I’d need to make adjustments, but it’d easily be doable.

      • Limonene@lemmy.world
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        23 hours ago

        It’s for a household of 1, in Milwaukee. I could do it here if I cooked every meal and ate meat at most twice a week.

        A person poor enough to qualify for this probably doesn’t have time to shop properly and cook for every meal, and probably doesn’t have a full kitchen.

        • NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world
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          23 hours ago

          Ya, it’d be a lot of vegetarian meals. If you can get to something like a Sams Club or Costco (although that has it’s own cost) you could get things like eggs, rice, oats, and even some spices over a few months to get you going, really cheap compared to other places.

          Even being able to get something like a bulk frozen blueberries to be your fruit for the month that you can put in the oatmeal for example would go a long way, but is probably too pricey if you’re buying it in small quantities.

          Trying to do that at an expensive grocery store and no access to cheaper bulk pricing would make that less comfortable.

          • Clent@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            23 hours ago

            You appear to assume everyone has a chest freezer or even a fridge with enough freezer space accommodate these suggestions.

            You note the cost of club memberships but ignore the cost of transportation.

            I challenge you to live on these suggested diets for a year without going over budget.

            • NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world
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              21 hours ago

              You don’t need a chest freezer for a 2-3kg bag of frozen veggies and berries. Any standard fridge will fit that with plenty of additional space.

              Nor do you need a membership to even get these things at all places, but it can make it cheaper (and likely pay for itself)

              I would expect a person this poor to likely have a bus pass, they probably wouldn’t be driving. So transportation costs are probably already covered, so the real issue is, is there a place they can buy frozen/bulk food within a reasonable bus distance.

              Edit: E.g Krogers in Milwaukee where OP referenced has frozen peas 60oz for $5.29 (NOT on sale), as well as other vegetables. Ideally find a mixed bag. That’s your veggies for the week, and it’s only $0.75 of you’re $9.41 day for eating, and no paid membership. I’m not saying this is good, it’s poverty, but it’s doable.

              Edit: In Log Angeles at Food4Less you can get 80z mixed veggies for $6.99 on sale ($1 off), that’s $0.699 a day for 10 days, even cheaper, in LA an even more expensive city! You can even get that down to $0.54 a day at Walmart.

          • grue@lemmy.world
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            19 hours ago

            I have a Costco membership. I don’t buy things like this or frozen vegetables there because they cost more per unit than they do at Kroger (let alone Lidl or Aldi).

            • NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world
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              13 hours ago

              Really? That’s interesting, even rice and oats?

              Edit: where I’m at for spices, you can get 3-4x the amount at Costco vs the grocery store, but on a budget like this you’d probably only get 1 a month while you built up the kitchen. I’ll check rice again next time I’m out but I swear it’s cheaper as well. Haven’t bought oats in awhile, but used to have them for breakfast daily (the basic quaker oats kind, not the expensive flavored sachets)

              Edit: Also I’m annoyed that you can’t see Costco warehouse food prices online. You get the online/delivery prices which are raised making price shopping more difficult.

      • undefined@lemmy.hogru.ch
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        23 hours ago

        In Los Angeles I’m paying like $50 for a barebones, mostly produce and raw ingredients shopping trip 1-2 times per week. I’m vegan so I’m not buying milk, eggs, meat, etc. but sometimes I’ll buy processed fake meat (but those prices are insane right now too).

        • NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world
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          23 hours ago

          Not that I suggest you do this, but in the context of eating cheap, you can get that cheaper by finding a place that sells larger bags of frozen vegetables, such as the carrot, pea, green bean, corn mixes. Go for the store brand to get that cheapest. They’re just as nutritious as they get flash frozen when their nutrients are at their peak. It won’t be very exiting though.

          You won’t have a lot of variety trying to eat on $292 a month.

          • undefined@lemmy.hogru.ch
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            9 hours ago

            Good point. I do that to an extent for the reasons you’ve listed. I thought of produce because lately I’ve been into salads and wraps.

            I have no clue why others are downvoting you for this.

  • doctortofu@reddthat.com
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    1 day ago

    Wow, if they reduce egg prices any more through all those cuts they’ll have to start giving them out for free!

  • Skyrmir@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    They need higher crime rates to enable pushing for more authoritarian spending on police and enforcement.