Democratic leaders decry ‘unbelievably cruel’ move, saying ‘Trump is using food as a weapon’ during shutdown
Senate Republicans shot down a Democratic-led attempt to fully fund Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits on Monday during the government shutdown – a move that heightens uncertainty for the 42 million Americans participating in the country’s biggest anti-hunger program.
Jeff Merkley, a Democratic senator, and Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, attempted to pass a resolution via unanimous consent that would have forced the Department of Agriculture to fund Snap benefits for the month of November.
But Republican senators objected, with John Barrasso, Senate majority whip, arguing that a solution toward ensuring those benefits lies in reopening the government.
More proof that shutting down the government was the Republican’s intention all along.
“I don’t want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub.”
-Grover Norquist, 2001
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grover_Norquist
Well yeah. This is just cruelty for the sake of cruelty. They’re felling two systems they hate in one go.
What? Nothing here is evidence they want(ed) a shutdown. They’re refusing a SNAP funding bill because they want the poorly funded program to be leverage for reopening the government.
That they view feeding people, many of which are their own voters, as something that only Democrats care about shows their utter disinterest in supporting the rubes that vote for them, but none of this is part of some Republican master plan or advancing Republican causes.
It’s possible sure, but the leverage part makes less sense to me, like lets screw over mostly Republican districts as a threat to coerce Democrats to vote for the bill. It’s like cutting off your nose to spite your face.
Republicans have a lot more to lose with SNAP funding being cut than Democrats.
I think a simpler explanation is what you said. Republicans don’t want to spend money on poorer people.