Let Them Eat Nothing
The phrase Qu’ils mangent de la brioche — which has been roughly translated to Let them eat cake — was likely never actually uttered by Marie Antoinette (unless she came up with it at the age of nine). But the spirit of the phrase does seem to match this American moment as the House looks to pass a spending bill that is most harmful to the poorest people. Well, the phrase almost fits. The administration wants to cut cake, too. RFK Jr. wants to stop people using SNAP benefits to buy sugary foods. But don’t worry. The highest earners are still getting a sweet deal. “To help pay for the tax cuts, Trump’s bill will slash the federal budget for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by an estimated 20%, according to the CBO. More than 40 million low-income Americans (12% of the country) use SNAP, formerly known as food stamps.” This part of the spending bill looks more like a draconian diet plan. Welcome to the Senate’s new version of Ozempic. Instead of weekly shots, you lose weight because you can’t afford to eat. And you may need this alternative, because health care is getting cut, too. To add salt to the wound (while you can still afford salt), the cuts that will be dramatic and life-altering for the poorest Americans won’t do much to offset the overall cost of the spending bill. NYT (Gift Article): Poorest Americans Dealt Biggest Blow Under Senate Republican Tax Package. “Republicans aim to pay for their tax cuts by slashing programs for the poor, including Medicaid and food stamps. The cuts amount to one of the largest retrenchments in the federal safety net in a generation. But the savings they generate only offset a fraction of the total cost of the bill, which is expected to add more than $3 trillion to the federal debt by 2034.”
+ “House Speaker Mike Johnson maintains that the changes being considered are an effort to reduce fraud and waste, not a cut to SNAP. It’s hard to see how he can say that with a straight face. They are proposing cutting it—and cutting it deep.” Bloomberg (Gift Article): SNAP Cuts in Big Tax Bill Will Hit a Lot of Trump Voters Too. Cruelty for cruelty’s sake is becoming the new normal in a country where the phrase let them eat cake has become as American as Apple Pie.
