The All Things Political Topic - SNAFU edition

[Gromnir]

regarding the impending halt of snap:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQb2n6yETOC/

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/31/us/politics/federal-judge-food-stamps.html

"Despite the imminent lapse, the Trump administration has maintained that it would not try to cover the shortfall, not even by using billions of dollars that Congress had previously set aside for SNAP to address possible funding emergencies. That prompted 25 states and the District of Columbia to sue this week, arguing that the White House had a legal and moral obligation to provide the benefits.

"During a tense hearing on Thursday, Judge Talwani appeared to doubt the government’s claims that there were legal, technical and budgetary hurdles to reprogramming the money during the shutdown.

"“Congress has put money in an emergency fund,” she said during the hearing. “It’s hard for me to understand how this isn’t an emergency, when there’s no money and a lot of people are needing their SNAP benefits.”"

this is not a new thing. there has been previous government shutdowns, including idiotic ones such as the 2018 wall shutdown. snap benefits continued during previous shutdowns 'cause Congress had foreseen the possibility o' such interruptions and they included a mechanism to make certain that snap funds were available even in the event o' emergencies, no doubt 'cause regardless o' which side o' the aisle you were on, children unnecessarily going hungry were seen as politically bad.... and wrong.

and as a reminder for those who is opposed to handouts for the unworthy, the vast majority o' snap recipients receive benefits for six months or less, and sixty-something % o' all snap money goes to children. even if you believe folks taking welfare is habitual ne'er-do-wells who interminable suck off the government teat to pay for their drug and alcohol addictions, snap ain't the program you should want ended.

edit:

update: Federal judge orders Trump administration to pay SNAP benefits out of contingency fund

funny aside, we went back and looked at the 2018 wall shutdown situation and discovered that, to our surprise, the trump administration did not use the Congressional emergency fund to pay for snap during the government stoppage. the thing is, what trump did last time, and what the government is arguing they can't do this time 'cause is too complex and difficult, were declared illegal sometime after the shutdown ended, but maybe not for reasons you might initial expect. the government accountability office found that trump ignored all the money Congress had set aside for emergencies such as shutdowns, and instead used other inappropriate funding sources to prevent a delay o' snap. the reason why the 2018 funding o' snap were deemed illegal were not 'cause trump did it but 'cause he did not use the funds specific provided by Congress to deal with the problem. in short, the usda and trump is saying they can't use the emergency funds 'cause a shutdown is not the sorta emergency envisioned by Congress, but there were already a post 2018 shutdown ruling on the mater which concluded the exact opposite. trump were able to fund snap in 2018 w/o much difficulty and in spite o' technical hurdles, but his actions were illegal because he didn't use Congressional emergency snap funds to accomplish the feat.

nuts.

Edited Friday at 07:17 PM by Gromnir

[Zoraptor]

12 hours ago, majestic said:

Or worse, imagine if Biden had become president and stepped aside after his cancer diagnosis, it'd be a mixed race femoid with a weird laugh running the country. Unthinkable. 

Trouble is, we know that didn't happen. 

Don't think there's anyone here- even Bruce, probably, when he isn't just being Bruce- who wouldn't prefer Harris to have won. The problem with her acceding after a Biden resignation post cancer diagnosis is that it's impossible to see Biden winning unless you magic away his other health issues. If you're going to do that, might as well just magic Trump (and/or racism) away instead and solve the root issue.

11 hours ago, Gromnir said:

btw, the test were original administered to trump in january 2018 shortly after an episode wherein the President were showing signs o' difficulty in speaking.

Yes, you said. So he's been taking and passing (unless he's lying!!!) cognitive tests for 7 years. Not exactly supportive of dementia, which is characterised by an active decline for almost all causes.

That's only a plus for you via a very specific circular reasoning, ie Trump's doctors think he has dementia--> make him take test--> he lies about passing --> doctors know he has dementia so... make him take it again next year so he can lie about it again. And, the doctors are making him take a non diagnostic test, so it's basically useless, except, they want him to take the test because they think he has dementia and him taking the test proves they think that.

There really isn't any point at all arguing against that, because it relies entirely on speculation about everyone involved lying/ being incompetent in a very precise way specifically to support one conclusion; and with no actual evidence to back it up. To quote a certain poster on other subjects: maybe one shouldn't do unfounded speculation and just wait for the facts?

[Gromnir]

more significant than the traditional turin horse fiasco we indulge with zor from time-to-time...

via ny times:

"President Trump said late Friday that the administration would provide the funding for food stamps in November once a federal court could clarify “how we can legally” supply the money."

am expecting a snarky response from the judge, but usda foot dragging is expected... to what aim? again, the method used by the trump 2018 administration to fund snap were deemed illegal after the fact and the Congressional emergency fund were identified as the appropriate source o' funding at that time. trump playing dumb may be believable, but the lawyers who need argue for the government won't get such grace. 

there is no basement for the current gop, so perhaps am reading this situation wrong, but there is a vast number o' trump voters receiving snap money, and in spite o' aggressive (and possible illegal) efforts by the administration and the usda to blame democrats for the upcoming snap benefit delays, am not seeing how they may successful svengali this into a republican win, but...

also, if you are looking for a glimmer o' sunshine, "President Trump late Thursday renewed his call to eliminate the filibuster to force through legislation ending the government shutdown, but his plea is unlikely to get much traction among the Republicans who control the Senate." thune and other R senators do not have an appetitive to eliminate the filibuster. thank goodness for sinema and manchin, eh? am not actual thankful for sinema btw, but am admitting we shared her reluctance to end the filibuster, precisely 'cause we envisioned the possibility o' something like 2025 even if am admitting is no way we literal coulda' predicted the Congressional 2025 charlie fox.

*sigh*

back to the salt mines.

somebody loses track o' the thread quite easily. 

"am curious why the obvious question regarding the MoCA administered by walter reed doctors as part o' a trump exam is never asked: why did doctors feel it were prudent to have trump take the MoCA?"

there were an event in december o' 2017 wherein trump were public slurring words during a speech. as a result, trump gets neurological tests, and at least a dozen specialists is involved in trump's exams... but according to trump and ronny jackson, the MoCA he took at that time and aced, were administered not at the request o' doctors, but by trump himself.

ok.

no reasonable person in their right mind takes a trump explanation as to why he wanted the MoCA to be administered at face value in part 'cause trump is a pathological liar. 

(is a rando vid... have never previous seen the guy in the hat and glasses)

have stated multiple times now that we don't know the real motivation, but that is immaterial too. can say with near certainty it had nothing to do with biden however. duh. in any event, is no intelligent and honest person who is gonna suggest that in the absence o' evidence o' trump's specific lies, words direct from the horse's mouth should be taken at face value, 'cause that is not how real people behave and even court evidentiary rules recognize how stoopid that kinda trust would be. in january 2018, there were particular concerns 'bout trump's mental fitness, so lying about the reason why the MoCA were administered is in character for a "chronic narcissist."  oh, and biden, anything concerning biden, is complete irrelevant to answering such concerns. 

as may be seen via quoted and linked material we already shared, the MoCA is not dispositive as a test for dementia and is not routine tests in any event. seems highly unlikely trump knew about the MoCA in december o 2017, but we are told that he asked to be tested for dementia in 2018. not being satisfied with the full testing procedure o' his team o' more than a dozen specialists, trump requested the dementia test. 

whatever "circular reasoning" you wanna strawman is as pointless as were your biden observations. again, we don't know for certain what were the motivation o' trump and his doctors, but the story they fabricated in january 2018 were not particularly believable and there were a clear motivation to lie. the fact that trump has spent the intervening years doubling-down on his dementia test glory doesn't help zor in any event 'cause as already noted, all the alternatives is bad... and doubling-down ad nauseum is also complete in-character for trump. that trump took a dementia test in 2018 and has been using that unfortunate necessity through the intervening years to try and convince his base o' his stellar mental acuity does not seem at all out of character. trump genuine believes acing a dementia test proves how smarty he is? trump is lying or reflexive doubling down... or mayhap he lied at first and now he genuine believes that being able to draw the time on a clock and the ability to recollect, "person, woman, man, camera, tv," were "very difficult." is literal more than five years later and Gromnir didn't need look up, "person, woman, man, camera, tv." regardless, is literal no good outcomes for trump as far as we can see.

nevertheless, particular as the dementia test which started all this silliness happened so long ago, many people forget what were trump's excuses and the circumstances surrounding his initial dementia test. is clear zor forgot. *chuckle* why did doctors administer the MoCA is a relevant question. is not a dispositive test. is not a routine test. alternatively, you can squint your eyes shut tight, cover your ears and repeat over and over that you believe trump and ronny jackson until you believe it. 

 

HA! Good Fun!

 

[Lexx]

I find it crazy that so many people in america are depending on food stamps in the first place. Just shows you that something is very wrong right in the core.

[rjshae]

7 hours ago, Lexx said:

I find it crazy that so many people in america are depending on food stamps in the first place. Just shows you that something is very wrong right in the core.

Perhaps. But it's good to know there's a safety net available for hard times.

[Lexx]

Is it one, though? If even regular people, who work full time jobs, are depending on food stamps... that's just not normal. That's the churn. 

[Gromnir]

The H-2A Visa Trap

"As the hearing drew to a close, Judge Lisa Godbey Wood explained that she had watched Sofi’s body language and studied the tone of her voice as she testified. And she could see how much Sofi had to lose, especially in the face of threats to her and her son. She couldn’t find a single reason not to believe Sofi. “I would find by any standard of proof that she’s telling the truth,” Wood said. “As a result I find that the rapes did occur.”

"Wood turned to Mendoza. “People think that there’s no slavery anymore,” she told him, moments before sentencing him to 30 years in prison. “There is, and you were doing it right here in our state.”"

...

"The Biden administration increased protections for H-2A workers, but several lawsuits filed by states including Georgia have prevented them from fully going into effect. This past June, the Trump administration went one step further, suspending any enforcement of the new program’s rules until that litigation is resolved.

"The number of H-2A visas issued has increased every year since Sofi arrived. The escalation of Trump’s deportation efforts this year has led to arrests of undocumented farmworkers — who account for over 40% of all field laborers — and sparked enough fear to convince others to no longer show up to work. If farmers are squeezed further by the shortage of farmworkers, the H-2A program can fulfill that demand. There’s no limit to how many visas can be issued."

...

am still perplexed as to why so many farmers voted for trump considering the pain they felt during his first administration and in spite o' the bailouts, bailouts which am thinking everybody believes will be replicated and increased this time around. tariffs is brutalizing farmers again, and is no way they may pretend that the misery they are suffering due to trump's ignorant trade wars were unexpected or that they were lied to when they voted overwhelming for trump in 2024.

that said, one reason why the mass deportations don't rule out trump support by farmers is 'cause so many prefer an expansion o' the h-2a program which for them is cheaper and easier to maintain through labor contractors such as mendoza as 'posed needing deal with messy free market forces which has individual farm workers able to chose their employer and to leave at anytime if they do not like their employment situation. the trump admin is exponential increasing the h-2a program while simultaneous ending any enforcement issues o' a program which were already rife with criminality. during the pandemic, estimates o' h-2a visa holders being victims o' human trafficking increased to 25% and in spite o' the  subsequent biden admin resolve to clean up the program, estimates only fell to 20%. one in five?  trump has effective ended enforcement efforts all together, so what do you believe is gonna happen to the numbers? does anybody trust trump's claims he is concerned about human trafficking especially when farmers is now, more than ever, gonna need a cheap and reliable source o' labor other than undocumented workers?

HA! Good Fun!

Edited 21 hours ago by Gromnir

[Zoraptor]

20 hours ago, Gromnir said:

whatever "circular reasoning" you wanna strawman is as pointless as were your biden observations. 

Trump specifically brought up Biden in the quote I provided, that's about as relevant as you can get. Indeed, one suspects that is why you've gone back to 2017, now, despite that utterly torpedoing your argument in other ways that really ought to be obvious.

Dementia is a progressive 'disease'. Almost all hard to detect causes of cognitive decline are as well. You can say with about as complete certainty as it is possible to get from casual observation that he didn't have dementia in 2017, for that reason. If he did, and lied about it, he'd be dead or effectively vegetative because... dementia is progressive. ie, it only ever gets worse. Thing is, for the 2017/8 test it doesn't even matter if everyone involved was lying- we know he didn't have dementia then because it's progressive. 

Your argument is the very definition of circular reasoning, where rather than the evidence supporting the conclusion the evidence and conclusion are one and the same. To whit:

Quote

Trump taking the test is evidence he has dementia. Trump passing would be irrelevant since the important thing is that his doctors were concerned enough to administer a test, because he has dementia. If he says he passed he's lying, because he has dementia. If he actually passed it's irrelevant because the test isn't diagnostic, it's the concern that's important and he has dementia.

Ironically, that's exactly the sort of reasoning you get from Donald Trump and which he too hates being called on.

You can substitute cognition issues for dementia if you like, doesn't make any actual difference.

[Zoraptor]

I see our latest Nobel Peace Prize laureate is once more going according to type and calling on armed intervention from the US in an interview with Bloomberg.

per the committee

Quote

for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy

and yes, she'd called for armed intervention before the peace prize award as well. 

[Malcador]

Trump threatening to save the Christians in Nigeria. Still nothing on Sudan, which is funny

[rjshae]

12 hours ago, Lexx said:

Is it one, though? If even regular people, who work full time jobs, are depending on food stamps... that's just not normal. That's the churn. 

What are you suggesting then? Many countries have food subsidy programs for their poor. Are they okay but the US is not? My understanding is that SNAP is just 1.5% of the federal budget. Many European nations spend much more of their GDP than the US on public social welfare programs. What are they doing wrong?

Edited 12 hours ago by rjshae

[Gromnir]

fox news is at it again

BREAKING: FAKE NEWS! Fox News just got caught reporting on disgustingly racist AI videos as REAL!

we did double-check other sources to make sure the facebook claim is legit. 

the fox article

https://www.foxnews.com/media/snap-beneficiaries-threaten-ransack-stores-over-government-shutdown

am knowing europeans cannot read the comments section, but keep in mind that most o' the following is being contributed after the correction to the story were made, and only a couple point out fox's switcheroo

Spoiler

mikekdba816
1 day ago

I don't see anywhere in the Constitution where it states that the Judicial branch can order the Executive branch to do the work of the Legislative branch of government. Basically, the Judicial branch can't order the Executive branch to pass new laws. That is the responsibility of Congress. Checks a...

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WillyPayne
13 hours ago

Only in a sane world.

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suzon
14 hours ago

If it’s what Dems want, they don’t care about our constitution. They will destroy it the first chance they get. Look at the first amendment. Libs think it protects heinous lies, inciting violence, and destructive actions.  They are destroying our country bit by bit on many fronts.  

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Youarekidding210
1 day ago

Trump has nothing to do with the Federal Government Shutdown.  The US House and US Senate set the Federal Budget and Trump can either accept and sign the Budget or Veto the Budget.  Right now, the US Senate has a US House Approved Budget to accept or reject, so the Courts need to be directing "Cour...

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christians4christ514
3 hours ago

and why then are they not trying to negotiate? they really want everyone's healthcare costs to skyrocket?

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Moderately_Stitious
13 hours ago

It’s almost comical how Freeze Miser and Sombrero Hips can say, with a straight face, the Conservatives are at fault, when the Dems have rejected the CR 13 times thus far.  They don’t say why while on the mic, they just say the House is to blame, and are “starving the chid-rens”.  We all know why, ...

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daiseymae1092752
1 day ago

A local news station in Central Ohio just did a story on a family of 9, including a 3 week old who won't be getting their $1500 a month SNAP benefits. And yet, you could see one of the kids playing on an electronic tablet/game. Mom, however, claims they don't take vacations or even have date night....See more

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truthsocial412
3 hours ago

Fox noise originally ran this false "story" as if the videos were true and authentic, depicting real people, not AI generated propaganda. Fox got fooled, and apparently did not fact check the authentication of the people in the videos.

This exposes Fox's preferred narrative of millions of welfare qu...

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FedupretiredFed
6 hours ago

So she has 7 children she can’t feed, she needs to take responsibility by one, keeping her legs closed and finding a hobby that is far less costly. Shame on people who continue to have kids they are not able to take care of.

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maryland89
1 day ago

What about workfare?  Eligibility for SNAP benefits should have a precondition limiting how much the recipients are spending on non-essentials (internet service, streaming services, cable TV services, DoorDash deliveries, manicure / pedicure services).  Furthermore, SNAP benefits should be limited ...

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LetsBeHonest4
10 hours ago

There should be a credit voucher where you only get SNAP or EBT if you work a certain number of hours.....you don't work, you don't get fed!  It might even solve some of Americas obesity problem!

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totally_lost
13 hours ago

Limit SNAP to dry brown rice, dry beans, Corn Meal, Flour, canned corn/carrots/peas/greenbeans, fresh veggies, baking soda, sugar, and milk. Doesn't cost that much, and nobody will starve ... the same diet I survived working my way through college, and being out of work on much of my life.

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amityyo
1 day ago

Maybe this is a wakeup call for the American taxpayers and a time to reevaluate the SNAP benefit system and just what the requirements should be to receive those benefits. 

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infantryman300
13 hours ago

Anyone getting them should be checked on at least once a year. People driving new cars and living in nice homes shouldn’t be getting them at all. But it happens

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Kaeathome
14 hours ago

Years ago when I was a little girl, food help came from Surplus.  It was a box of food that was adjusted for your family size and had nutritional food that could be used to supplement you food supply.  There were no "Food Stamps" then.  Maybe we need to go back to food boxes based on family size.  ...

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WiseGuy422
1 day ago

How can any judge order Trump to spend money that wasn't allocated by Congress? Trump has no authority to do that. If these judges do not understand how our three branches of government work, then they should not be in one of those branches themselves. 

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christians4christ514
3 hours ago

It is in a rainy day fund and should be used. He refuses to use it because he would rather let a bunch of kids starve. Like literally he is stopping the payment of something congress gave as a rainy day fund for stuff like this

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sixmilecross56
12 hours ago

I am absolutely amazed at how many judges do not understand the Constitution of the United States.  Is it not being taught in law school anymore or do they just ignore it?   They just make decisions based on their own biases. 

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MiguelMocarro
1 day ago

It is my responsibility?  Go after those 7 baby daddies.  

In the meantime, I am a federal employee who has not been paid in nearly a month.  In my state, furloughs are not a basis for unemployment, so I have nothing.  I always keep ahead on bills and have one month cash on hand just for this, so bi...

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rrback12452
7 minutes ago

The story is false!

A.l. generated 

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Billjoa
14 hours ago

GOOD POST

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mcmac
1 day ago

The Government shut down is running out of other peoples money? What? A social safety net dependent on those who pays taxes, work, eat less healthy cuts of meats and fresh vegetables while SNAP benefits and other social programs equates to subsidized incomes of over 40k per year, while eating bette...

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SamSmith2025
3 hours ago

This video is literally generated by AI. Foxnews says this in the title and body of the article. These are nor real people. This is a fake video

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Themediagivesyouanxiety
11 hours ago

Yep. We need to eat the rich. 

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michigan22408
1 day ago

Federal judges do not control funding.  The President technically does not.  So the federal judges should tell democrats to vote to open the government because the Congress does control funds.

These judges dont understand our Republic

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lostsoul1866
12 hours ago

They dont care either.

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Sprtbikr
15 hours ago

Yes file a lawsuit against the dims for the shutdown.

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JM61262
1 day ago

As a taxpayer, it is not my responsibility to support you and your kids.  As a manager of retail stores, I have seen food stamps pay for catering weddings and birthday parties.  I have seen food stamps sold for 1/2 price in cash to pay for manicures and pedicures.  I have seen people only work for ...See more

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Canyoubelieveit!
8 hours ago

Let's hope the man succeeds!

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guitar42541
16 hours ago

For years, I was a technician for a major telephone company here in democrat-liberal run connecticut. I WORKED IN COUNTLESS HOMES so I saw FIRST HAND the abuse perpetrated by those who expected the tax-payer to support the fact they didn't want to get a job, drink and get high all day and sleep unt...

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hipp56
1 day ago

I have no sympathy for those that refuse to even look for work and expect everyone else support them. Back in the 1980's when I was laid off and my wife could not work because of a risky pregnancy  we applied for benefits and were told we would have to wait 90 days because we had made too much mone...

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stekev0
12 hours ago

Same thing here. Years ago my wife and I struggled while working minimum wage jobs and were not eligible for any kind of assistance. We made to much money. LOL

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snibbs76
1 day ago

Same thing happened to me when I got hurt at work. Even tho I was temporarily disabled, o made too much money…. 

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txisgreat
1 day ago

"It is the taxpayer's job to pay for my kids to eat and for my kids to be taken care of." - YOU had the child YOU pay for the child's needs. We have falsely trained people to be dependent upon others/the government for things they caused. Take personal responsibility. 

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leeannec662
15 hours ago

Personal responsibility would start with some birth control. And then by following the simple rule of not having more children than YOU can feed. This is how working people have to plan their family size. 

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ToriS186PA
16 hours ago

We taxpayers no doubt pay for her kids to have free breakfast and lunch at school every day as well. 

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arcticmike
1 day ago

This sense of entitlement deeply concerns me.  How exactly is it logical to claim that taxpayers are responsible for feeding your children?  Did you ask permission from the taxpayers before you had those children?  Back in the day, this type of charitable contribution was handled at the community l...

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dennisdeplorable
16 hours ago

Look at the bright side: Hunger may motivate some to get a job and feed themselves. 

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Nostra-Thomas
1 day ago

Federal employee here. I’m in the “excepted” category, which means I am still working every day without currently being paid. I know I’ll get it eventually, but eventually doesn’t pay the car payment. Yet I’m not complaining. I have duties to perform, and I will. 

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Ivan3980
10 hours ago

You have a government job and no money saved up. Sounds about right. 

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SpaceFreak360
23 hours ago

You are also unfortunately unlikely to be eligible for unemployment, while your not-excepted counter parts are eligible, of course that money would have to be paid back once you were no longer furloughed. I feel your pain my excepted brother from another mother! 

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and avoiding the double-post, while admitting am exhausted...

zor invents an argument nobody made, then argues against it, while in part relying on trump integrity to reach a pointless conclusion.  

sure.

zor medical expertise aside, *eye roll* dementia progresses different with every patient and actual progresses is slower when signs appear first later in life, but this is also irrelevant and red herring fodder. find where Gromnir claimed trump has dementia. for all we know, the doctors thought he had suffered a stroke or might have Parkinson's. tired o' repeating, but the MoCA is not a dispositive test for dementia, so whether trump passed or not would hardly prove (or disprove) that he had dementia in 2018.  trump acing the test is not particular meaningful to us 'cause am far more concerned as to why the doctors thought the test were warranted.

"am curious why the obvious question regarding the MoCA administered by walter reed doctors as part o' a trump exam is never asked: why did doctors feel it were prudent to have trump take the MoCA?"

one-upping biden were not a plausible option 'cause calendars... duh. and no, as has been shown numerous times now via actual linked expert opinions, the MoCA would not have been utilized as a screening test. doctors woulda' had a reason to believe the test were appropriate. more than a dozen specialists examined trump following his episode in late december o' 2017, and then he is given a dementia test.  believing trump without any corroborating evidence that he personally requested a dementia test just 'cause requires a level o' gullibility we cannot muster. 

so, back to square one.

btw, Cognitive Test Trump Took May Have Been Undermined by Publicity, Doctors Warn

an examinee knowing the contents o' the test may interfere with its value. "person, woman, man, camera, tv." for all we know, trump spends considerable effort preparing for the test each time he takes it. sure, if he were impaired into insensibility, then no amount o' preparation or foreknowledge would save him from failure, but again, we were in the room when our father took the test and "aced," it which shocked us at the time. is also apparently the reason why, "It can be more valuable to ask family members or others who know the patient well whether the person has been inefficient at tasks they once did well, like negotiating a new route when driving or following a recipe."

but again, "as grotesque as it might be, am gonna suggest americans is much better off with a President who reflexive lies than one who is honest taking pride in his dementia test results." notice we didn't place trump's possible dementia in the balance, but if we take zor's max gullible position, that would mean the President o' the united states is genuine proud of having been able to draw ten-to-eleven on a blank clock face. 

"I took it at Walter Reed Medical Center in front of doctors,” Mr. Trump said. “And they were very surprised. They said, that’s an unbelievable thing. Rarely does anybody do what you just did..."

sooooo... no doubt zor also believes that the doctors were "very surprised," by trump being able to identify an elephant.

HA! Good Fun!

 

[BruceVC]

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5584001-rubio-trump-deny-impending-venezuela-strikes/ 

 

Both Trump and Rubio have denied the US has any plans to attack Venezuela, targeting drug cartels is not the same as war with a country unless the country where the drug cartels operate want to create a war

 

" Secretary of State Marco Rubio pushed back on a report Friday that the Trump administration had decided to strike military installations in Venezuela.

“Your ‘sources’ claiming to have ‘knowledge of the situation’ tricked you into writing a fake story,” Rubio posted on social platform X.

He was responding to a Miami Herald report that said the strikes could come “at any moment” amid an increasingly aggressive posture from the U.S. toward Venezuela. Sources told the news outlet the strikes aimed at cutting off the hierarchy of the Soles drug cartel.

 

President Trump earlier Friday also disputed reporting that he was planning to carry out strikes inside Venezuela.

 

“No. It’s not true,” Trump said. "

[BruceVC]

A couple of years ago we witnessed military coups in Mali, Niger and Burkina Fuso where Democratically elected governments were overthrown and the main reason for this was the " failures " of the state to deal with the insurgencies and Jihadists. The various generals claimed they would end these conflicts if they were running the countries 

The French military were also booted out and Russian Wagner\Africa Corp were brought in to replace the French military 

Several years later as predicted the insurgencies are not only continuing but the violence has got worse. The Juntas have failed in there main objective and citizens have no recourse because the Democrat systems have been abandoned 

https://theconversation.com/jihadists-have-blockaded-malis-capital-whats-at-stake-268692

The capital of Mali is basically besieged 

"For weeks now, Bamako has been isolated from its external sources of supply, particularly fuel, which must be imported from its coastal neighbours. The government was recently forced to declare the closure of schools and universities due to lack of transport.

Would the capture of an African capital by jihadists, rather than by conventional rebels, trigger an external intervention by western or African powers? This is unlikely. With the exception of its partners in the Alliance of Sahel States, Mali’s government is very isolated diplomatically.

France was forced to depart just a few years ago, and was stung by its deep unpopularity in the region. A new French intervention seems unimaginable. The US is currently more interested in transactions than in new interventions, especially in Africa.

Mali’s break with the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) would also seem to prevent a coordinated regional response. Even Burkina Faso and Niger, Mali’s neighbours and its partners in the Sahel alliance, are bogged down with their own jihadist insurgency. "

 

 

 

 

 

[Lexx]

5 hours ago, rjshae said:

What are you suggesting then? Many countries have food subsidy programs for their poor. Are they okay but the US is not? My understanding is that SNAP is just 1.5% of the federal budget. Many European nations spend much more of their GDP than the US on public social welfare programs. What are they doing wrong?

I suggest increasing the minimum wage to a livable standard. I'm appalled that apparently so many people who work full time are depending on food stamps in america. This is not a thing in germany. If you work full time, you usually have enough money to not depend on a soup kitchen. Of course there is social security pay, but it goes more in the direction of paying for rent and stocking up your salary. 

[uuuhhii]

1 trillion more debt in 3 month and they couldn't give out most meager food assistance

pathetic

[Gromnir]

poverty in the US is not what most people believe it to be.

Kathryn Anne Edwards

Opinion: The tyranny of the low-quality job

"Longitudinal studies of family income in the 1970s and early 1980s show that, while long-term poverty exists, it is a slim, fractional minority. Poverty is a mostly transient state experienced by a much larger share of people and caused by household and/or labor-market disruptions. Poverty isn’t a function of where you lived or how wealthy your parents are. Income can drop for lots of reasons: Someone moves out of the house, a job is lost, an accident prevents someone from working full-time. A new job, or recovered earnings, can end the spell."

is not a long piece and is worth reading.

aside, most o' the traditional solutions is wrong, or at least poor crafted. when california raised the minimum wage for fast food workers, not surprising, the prices o' fast food skyrocketed. raise the minimum wage is inflationary as a whole, as such the general economic wisdom is that raising the minimum wage counter-intuitive hurts the people you are most trying to help. however, studies show there is a kinda sweet spot for raising the minimum wage-- if wages increase just enough, everybody wins and you want see noteworthy general inflation. however, what is the chances this government gets the number right?

@ShadySandshas, on more than one occasion, observed how medical debt is the primary cause o' US bankruptcies. after obamacare, employers turned fulltime jobs into multiple part time jobs and slowed wage increases in part to pay (not pay) for healthcare. obamacare has helped millions o' people, but pretending as if healthcare is no longer a problem for anybody who is at least trying to find a job is wrong. poverty and healtcare in the US is inextricable linked. am gonna suggest you cannot fix US poverty w/o fixing healthcare, and that is a big ask.

childcare? *groan* would need a very long post to describe the problem in part 'cause some o' the solutions run counter to other solutions. US women with children disproportionate need good part-time jobs 'cause they cannot work full time or at the least they aren't gonna be able to take advantage o' jobs with traditional hours.

no (or no meaningful) sick leave for a large % o' lower paying jobs is also a surprising big problem that unlike the rest o' the problems listed has an ez fix, but good luck with that.

housing costs... 

am only scratching the surface o' the problem...

US poverty is not what most americans believe it to be, so many o' the suggested solutions is also gonna be fails.

HA! Good Fun!

ps am habitual socratic method so am often forgetting to state the obvious: because american poverty is so difficult to solve, but also largely transitory, snap is an ideal government response in spite o' fox news perpetuating a boomer welfare queen narrative. snap is highly targeted and reactive. people is able to access and then decouple from the snap program quick. there is indeed a free rider problem, but it is not as large as many boomers believe it to be. snap does not and cannot fix poverty, but it has been an overwhelming success.

Edited 32 minutes ago by Gromnir

[Lexx]

Fast food workers in Germany do get paid minimum wage, and our fast food is still cheaper than the stuff in America, last I checked. Nobody really has to take on multiple jobs to survive. Obviously if you take away all of the regulations, and let companies do whatever the hell they want, they will just increase prices if they are forced to pay more wages. After all, who's to stop them? 

The end result is something like Walmart, that is deeply tied into the government social security benefits system to pay their workers as little as possible AND milk tax payer money from the state to supplement those wages to make their employees only barely starve and not completely.

Don't get me wrong, I love my capitalism as much as the next westerner. I'm profiting from it as well, and don't really have a terrible life due to it. But this **** in America is just mental and way, way too much. You're going so far, you end up on the other side of the horseshoe curve (vs poverty of communism, lol). That said, I have no idea how this situation can be fixed without literal WW3 happening and resetting everything a la Star Trek. 

Fun fact, just last week I've learned that the WW3 in Star Trek lore started in 2026, lol. Who knows, maybe things will actually get better once everything went down the crapper first.

Edited 21 minutes ago by Lexx