Cruel House Republicans Vote to Cut Off Food for 170,000 Vets and 3.8 Million Americans

Last updated on September 25th, 2023 at 08:41 pm

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The non-partisan CBO estimated that, “H.R. 3102 would make several changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and extend its authorization for three years. In its May 2013 baseline, CBO projected that spending for SNAP would total $764 billion over the 2014-2023 period. Relative to that baseline, we estimate that enacting H.R. 3102 would reduce direct spending by $39 billion over the 2014-2023 period…The estimate is based on the assumption that the legislation will be enacted near the start of fiscal year 2014. Under CBO’s baseline, we project SNAP participation to decline from 48 million people in an average month in fiscal year 2014 to 34 million in 2023.”

The reforms that Republicans are touting in the nutrition bill have nothing to do with nutrition. They are all about making sure that fewer needy people have access to food. According to NPR, “The welfare reform bill said that able-bodied adults without dependents could get only three months of food aid in a three-year period unless they had a job or were in a state job-training program. Since the recession, states have been given waivers so that unemployed adults can keep getting food stamps.”

During the debate before the vote, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said, “Anyone who votes for this bill is voting to hurt his or her own constituents.

Republican Rep. Peter King (R-NY) said that it’s not a good bill, “I just think on balance it’s not a good bill. Against the whole backdrop of a government shutdown, I just think it’s too much.”

The Republican passed bill cuts will end food assistance for 1.8 million low-income seniors and people in low-income working families, 170,000 veterans, 210,000 children will loses their school lunches, and, “2 million to 4 million poor jobless individuals who live in areas of high unemployment, even if they want to work and are willing to take a job or participate in a training program.”

The Senate already promised to kill this bill. Democrats in the body refuse to consider these inhumane cuts.

House Republicans have once again shown that their capacity for cruelty is unlimited, and they have no qualms about denying veterans food, or children school lunches in order to reaffirm their twisted ideology.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association