As Democrats drag the government shutdown on, they’re suddenly caterwauling about one thing they knew for sure their recalcitrance would cause: 40 million Americans on SNAP — food stamps — facing a benefits cliff.
They’ve even repurposed the “starving babies” meme, from Gaza to this standoff. “Donald Trump . . . thinks starving people help him politically!” shrieks Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Bx./Queens).
Ex-Veep Kamala Harris fumes, “Babies are going to starve when the SNAP benefits end in just hours from now.”
Spare us the crocodile tears, please.
One more time: House Republicans, led by Speaker Mike Johnson, passed a “clean” continuing resolution a month ago — funding SNAP and core services at current levels, no strings attached; it would’ve kept every EBT card loaded through Christmas.
The GOP has the votes to pass it in the Senate, too — but Democrats there have filibustered it 13 times to prevent a floor vote.
Why?
They want $1.5 trillion in new spending, including Obamacare subsidies and more aid to illegal aliens, plus a promise not to deport Venezuelans.
Basically, they want an end-run around the 2024 election that put Donald Trump back in the White House and gave the GOP control of both houses of Congress.
The Dems don’t like the legislative consequences of the sweep, so they’re holding SNAP recipients hostage to try to make the Republicans give in.
Trump joked about having the Senate to exercise its “nuclear option” to get rid of the filibuster, but that would let Democrats run wild they next time they have even a bare Senate majority.
The SNAP cliff is no surprise: The Agriculture Department warned in September that a shutdown would leave states exhausting emergency funds.
But Dems keep voting to filibuster.
Even the American Federation of Government Employees — a Democrat lobby par excellence — begs for Dems to let the GOP bill pass so its members can get paid.
Fact is, the voters may start noticing how truly non-essential many federal employees are: The nation’s schools are still teaching their students, even though the federal Education Department’s “workers” are mostly furloughed.
Why shouldn’t it shut down permanently — and how much more of the federal government is about funding Democratic constituencies, rather than serving the public as a whole?
This isn’t chaos; it’s accountability.
Republicans are saying “no” to endless deficits.
Democrats’ outrage isn’t about hungry kids — it’s about losing their gravy train: If they cared about SNAP families, they’d quit filibustering today.
The shutdown — and the SNAP cliff — ends when Democrats drop the theatrics.
Until then, let the non-essentials stay home.
America will survive —and maybe even thrive — without them.