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[My comment: We took supplies to the food bank and encountered an E3 active duty person from Luke AFB. We talked a bit, and he is married with two children and one on the way. He supplements his income with food stamps that he can not get during the shutdown, so he is using the food bank instead of the food stamps. Personally, I was surprised as I thought that with the pay raises, etc., the supplements to live were no longer needed. It led me to look into the snap benefits]
As the government shutdown enters its fifth week, the second-longest shutdown in US history, the US Department of Agriculture suspended (USDA) the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). SNAP provides food assistance to roughly 40 million Americans, over 12% of the nation’s population, and it reports it doesn’t have the money to fund November benefits. A coalition of Democratic attorneys general and governors in 25 states has sued the USDA, seeking a temporary restraining order that would require it to distribute SNAP benefits.
While voices on the left called for the restoration of SNAP benefits, so did several congresspeople on the right. Some blamed both sides of Congress for failing to serve the American people.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) (Lean Right bias) wrote in the New York Times Opinion (Left), “Surely it is not hard to understand why SNAP is so essential to so many. The American economy has not been kind to working people in recent years. What cost $100 five years ago costs $125 today. So if you’re not earning 25 percent more than you were five years ago, you’re getting poorer. That’s most families in America. And nowhere do they feel it more than at the grocery store. But nobody in America, this richest of nations, should go to bed hungry, and certainly no child.” He filed legislation this week to continue to fund food stamps during the shutdown, gaining support from a half dozen Republican colleagues. The Democrats have put forth a competing bill to fund SNAP.
A piece in HuffPost (Left) said, “While millions of people are left wondering if they’re going to put food on the table next month, Republican lawmakers are using the impending calamity to score political points…But if Republicans suddenly care about food assistance for low-income families, they sure have a funny way of showing it. Donald Trump’s big signature megabill included massive cuts to government benefits, including SNAP, and nearly every Republican, including Thompson and Hawley, voted for it.”
The editorial staff at the Post and Courier (Lean Right) wrote, “A Congress that is willing to let millions of Americans go hungry so its members can score partisan points is less than worthless…Depending on how long the Congress refuses to do its job, the task could overwhelm our generosity, and the Legislature would need to reconvene to provide state funding to help feed our neighbors. For now, though, we all need to step up and help by writing checks, donating food, volunteering at food banks and soup kitchens, or giving direct aid to people we know who are in need. And we all need to recall this astounding failure of moral clarity when we vote in the next elections for the U.S. House and Senate.”
An MSNBC (Left) columnist wrote, “What's concerning at the moment is that the Trump administration is declining to publicly outline any clear agenda to tap into contingency funds or transfer funds from other nutrition assistance programs for SNAP. That could be part of a political strategy to make the situation look as daunting as possible to apply more pressure to Democrats to see if they flinch; Democrats are supposed to be champions of assistance to the poor — maybe they’ll back down out of fear of looking like they’re reneging on their principles.”
As the government shutdown enters its fifth week, the second-longest shutdown in US history, the US Department of Agriculture suspended (USDA) the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). SNAP provides food assistance to roughly 40 million Americans, over 12% of the nation’s population, and it reports it doesn’t have the money to fund November benefits. A coalition of Democratic attorneys general and governors in 25 states has sued the USDA, seeking a temporary restraining order that would require it to distribute SNAP benefits.
While voices on the left called for the restoration of SNAP benefits, so did several congresspeople on the right. Some blamed both sides of Congress for failing to serve the American people.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) (Lean Right bias) wrote in the New York Times Opinion (Left), “Surely it is not hard to understand why SNAP is so essential to so many. The American economy has not been kind to working people in recent years. What cost $100 five years ago costs $125 today. So if you’re not earning 25 percent more than you were five years ago, you’re getting poorer. That’s most families in America. And nowhere do they feel it more than at the grocery store. But nobody in America, this richest of nations, should go to bed hungry, and certainly no child.” He filed legislation this week to continue to fund food stamps during the shutdown, gaining support from a half dozen Republican colleagues. The Democrats have put forth a competing bill to fund SNAP.
A piece in HuffPost (Left) said, “While millions of people are left wondering if they’re going to put food on the table next month, Republican lawmakers are using the impending calamity to score political points…But if Republicans suddenly care about food assistance for low-income families, they sure have a funny way of showing it. Donald Trump’s big signature megabill included massive cuts to government benefits, including SNAP, and nearly every Republican, including Thompson and Hawley, voted for it.”
The editorial staff at the Post and Courier (Lean Right) wrote, “A Congress that is willing to let millions of Americans go hungry so its members can score partisan points is less than worthless…Depending on how long the Congress refuses to do its job, the task could overwhelm our generosity, and the Legislature would need to reconvene to provide state funding to help feed our neighbors. For now, though, we all need to step up and help by writing checks, donating food, volunteering at food banks and soup kitchens, or giving direct aid to people we know who are in need. And we all need to recall this astounding failure of moral clarity when we vote in the next elections for the U.S. House and Senate.”
An MSNBC (Left) columnist wrote, “What's concerning at the moment is that the Trump administration is declining to publicly outline any clear agenda to tap into contingency funds or transfer funds from other nutrition assistance programs for SNAP. That could be part of a political strategy to make the situation look as daunting as possible to apply more pressure to Democrats to see if they flinch; Democrats are supposed to be champions of assistance to the poor — maybe they’ll back down out of fear of looking like they’re reneging on their principles.”
Just a moment...
Posted from allsides.com
Food/Chow
Finance
Military Pay
Posted 2 mo ago
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The shutdown has brought to the front reignited questions over whether the SNAP program is truly serving those most in need or being exploited by bad actors. Roughly $1 out of every $10 dollars spent on food stamps in this country is fraud (according to this article 10/31/25). Imo, I’d hate to see straight refunding of the program without eliminating at least some of the massive fraud.
SPC Jeff Daley, PhD Cpl Vic Burk Lt Col Charlie Brown LTC Stephen Conway SSG William Jones SGT Ed Matyjasik
https://thedailybs.com/2025/10/31/shutdown-puts-snap-benefits-at-risk-but-exposes-billions-lost-to-fraud-and-abuse/
SPC Jeff Daley, PhD Cpl Vic Burk Lt Col Charlie Brown LTC Stephen Conway SSG William Jones SGT Ed Matyjasik
https://thedailybs.com/2025/10/31/shutdown-puts-snap-benefits-at-risk-but-exposes-billions-lost-to-fraud-and-abuse/
Shutdown puts SNAP benefits at risk, but exposes billions lost to fraud and abuse - The Daily Bo...
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), facing its first-ever funding lapse on Nov. 1 amid the ongoing government shutdown, is fraught with systemic fraud and abuse. Nearly a month into the shutdown, Democrats continue to block a short-term funding resolution, putting SNAP benefits for roughly 42 million Americans — about 12.5% of the population — at risk. The standoff has also reignited questions over whether the program is...
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It's ridiculous that the government couldn't do what's right and pass a temporary bill while they hash out the budget for the next fiscal year. Every damn one of them need to be replaced with working class people and while I'm on the soap box, Congress should not be getting paid during the shutdown. But what do they care, they are all millionaires and to hell with the working class and the poor in this country.
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Sgt Jim Belanus
it's getting a little ridicules with all the back door stuff going on. Pass the bill and move on
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SGM Jeff Mccloud
Fun fact, the rule that they get paid during a shutdown was instituted so those members who were not millionaires could not be pressured to vote simply to get their paycheck back.
Since there are now so few that are not millionaires, I think a better rule would be that their paychecks continue, but their assets are frozen during a shutdown.
Since there are now so few that are not millionaires, I think a better rule would be that their paychecks continue, but their assets are frozen during a shutdown.
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Cpl Vic Burk
SGM Jeff Mccloud - I'm with you, frozen assets would definitely make them speed things up.
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The GAO audit that the article cites actually states that about 11% of SNAP payments are "improper", defined as either too much or too little paid to an eligible recipient, or payment made to an ineligible recipient, which in many cases can be a recipient who was eligible, but became ineligible that following month due to an increase in income.
Improper payments and fraud involving federal funds are two distinct concepts that are related, but
not interchangeable.
The USDA, like any agency spending money and auditing and investigating, also makes corrections; underpayments are corrected, over payments are collected, and fraud is collected.
The USDA investigates suspected fraud throughout every year, about 5% of those investigations, or about 1% of all improper payments, turn out to be fraud, and collected.
In short, articles, or memes or reels, that claim the 11% of improper payments represents 11% fraud, are misleading.
More fun facts.
Like any federal assistance for adults capable of work, there is a work requirement and a 60 month cumulative limit. And like any other assistance under TANF, half of adults capable of work are in fact working at the time the qualify, and over 70% of them are off assistance within 12 months because they were able to raise their income above the threshold.
Improper payments and fraud involving federal funds are two distinct concepts that are related, but
not interchangeable.
The USDA, like any agency spending money and auditing and investigating, also makes corrections; underpayments are corrected, over payments are collected, and fraud is collected.
The USDA investigates suspected fraud throughout every year, about 5% of those investigations, or about 1% of all improper payments, turn out to be fraud, and collected.
In short, articles, or memes or reels, that claim the 11% of improper payments represents 11% fraud, are misleading.
More fun facts.
Like any federal assistance for adults capable of work, there is a work requirement and a 60 month cumulative limit. And like any other assistance under TANF, half of adults capable of work are in fact working at the time the qualify, and over 70% of them are off assistance within 12 months because they were able to raise their income above the threshold.
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