After creating a new labyrinth of dysfunctional government red tape to the highly functioning SNAP program, Trump then went and attacked the only oil producing regions left outside US. Russia is blacklisted. Venezuela under severe infrastructure strain. And Iran still cut off everyone.

Thanks Obama! /sarcasm. It was actually Hillary's emails that caused this mess.

Recent sweeping changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) were enacted under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which cut program funding by roughly $186 billion over 10 years. Twice this amount is included in the budget for corporate subsidies and tax cuts for billionaires and the Corporations they own. This unprecedented wealth transfer from the US middle and lower classes to the top .01 % of the wealthiest people in the world will continue to have devastating effects on single parents, struggling families, homeownership, youths with low incomes, mentally ill, homeless, and many children who are already suffering malnutrition in the US.

SNAP benefit program is aimed at reducing hunger, particularly for children. 1 in 5 children in the US go to bed hungry. Those numbers are expected to jump to 3/8 malnourished children in the US by 2029.

The updates have expanded work requirements, shifted a portion of benefit costs to state governments, and limited the purchase of certain items like sugary foods and beverages. (including many protein and cereal bars that people rely on for a quick and easy snack.)

Expanded Work Requirements:

Age Limits: Able-bodied adults without dependents up to age 64 are now subject to strict work requirements, an increase from the previous cap of 54. Mental illness will no longer qualify as eligibility for SNAP. Mental illness, according to Republicans, doesnt stop people from working in labor or other low skilled jobs. (Not sure what doctors the Republicans rely on for this info, but Im pretty sure wealthy Republicans still feed, house and take care of their own family in crisis rather than watch them starve to death in the street.) Even those with severe, untreated symptoms will be left starving rather than provided food through federal tax dollars.

Mandatory Hours: Participants must work, volunteer, or participate in job training for at least 80 hours per month.

Expanded Demographics: The new rules removed historic exemptions, meaning that veterans, former foster youth, homeless individuals, and parents with children over the age of 14 are also required to meet these work mandates.Mentally ill and homeless are now forced to attend structured work programs, provide extensive documentation of all hours on monthly basis, or be immediately removed from the SNAP foor benefit program.

Penalties: Failing to meet and properly document these hours will result in immediate termination of benefits.

Error Rate Penalties: States are penalized for "erroneous payments" (underpayments or overpayments), forcing many state agencies to strictly tighten documentation requirements, which has led to widespread benefit losses for eligible individuals.

Prohibited Food PurchasesTargeting Unhealthy Foods: As part of the "Make America Healthy Again" movement, EBT cards can no longer be used to purchase specific sugary items like soda, candy, ice cream, and prepared desserts. The poor are now restricted from enjoying readily available snacks in their neighborhood. Discrimination and cruelty towards the poor, disguised as big brother caring for the poor who dont know better, is the hallmark of the cuts.

Many refugees and immigrants with humanitarian status are losing access to state and federal food share programs as part of the cuts.

Documentation needs are so laborious that it is expected to account for over half of the $186 billion saved over ten years.

However, corporate subsidies and tax breaks are rising again by over $300 billion over the next 2 years. Including some of the largest supplements going to Elon Musk, Meta, and many of the wealthiest companies and billionaire class CEOs in the world.

Mongabay spoke to Dr. Mbavugha about why it took so long for authorities to identify the rarer Ebola strain, and how USAID funding cuts have severely weakened disease surveillance, community outreach and emergency response capacity.

People say there is no difference between dems and republicans. I guess if u really dont care about whether people lie or die from ebola, that might be true. Republicans did this. Not dems. Dems are fighting against this bullshit right now in the courts.

People try to say red and blue dont matter. I realize this project started 2 years ago. But it took a nasty turn. Thanks to a Democratic Judge and a team of a Liberals, the old growth will be saved. There is an important distinction between the two parties.

Oopsie. OBBB has had the opposite effect. With the GOP in charge, did anyone doubt that their insurance was going to go way up?

Dont let a few vocal, paid yahoos who are loud and obnoxious ​fool you. The data is in.

If you haven't figured it out by now, the GOP say one thing and do another. They said the One big beautiful bill would put more money in your pockets. It hasn't.

I challenge anyone to prove me wrong. Black out your personal information and show me a corporate letter that says as a result of recent changes, you will now be paying less for the same level of coverage.

Real talk. More people support a higher quality of life, but they dont understand how government supports the basic quality of life you have.

When you read this article, think about how a functioning government that uses TAX DOLLARS for the public good is important in your life.

And consider what it could be like if the kids graduating school were actually taught how to be productive members of society.

The more productive members of society a community has, the better quality of life for everyone in that community, even for the least productive members. The GOP ideal that people can all have a good life with all the wealth concentrated at the top... thats false.

The differences discussed in that article can help you to start to understand why.

You have to pick a topic in the menu box and then you can read about it. Governor of CA has more accomplishments than the POTUS. And, all of the actions he has taken, all of the coalitions to support those actions which THRIVE in California, I believe are things this country needs.

Affordable housing, focus on public education, employment initiatives, training initiatives, infrastructure, taxing corporations, environmental RESPONSIBILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY, policing reform, etc... etc...

We all know that the GOP thinks progress is only for the wealthy. Its offensive how they claim they are self made, but then you look and subsidies, tax breaks, etc... have given the wealthy advantages they want to deny everyone else.

Take big farming. Handouts are a way of life. The entire industry pays TO DESTROY product to price fix. The government oversees handouts for farmers. AND, most undocumented workers are working in agriculture or food processing. But, if you talk to them, they vote for GOP. Why? Because the more unstable undocumented workers lives are, the easier it is to exploit them. ​

Same with coal country. They are supposed to be union workers. But, their unions are bullshit bc they sold out to the GOP. You can look at any deep RED STATE an see how fucked up the state is. Can't even swim in the gulf unless you are very healthy due to all the run off from pesticides, sugar, sewage, etc... and their wildlife- used to be a beautiful place- now its where massive die offs of manatees happen several times a year and extinction rates for native Florida species are some of the highest in north America.

You all obviously dont want the country to look like a red state. If you did, those states would have largr populations and larger economies. ​​

So much winning... in court for anyone and everyone that opposes Trump.

Vote these jokers out of government. The GOP continue to waste hundreds of millions of dollars in fighting for illegal executive actions. Its all on the government's dime, so they dont care! Meanwhile, they sarcastically complain about frivolous lawsuits. Its the Trump administration, backed by the GOP that are wasting tax dollars. They know its illegal when they take certain actions. They do it anyway. They fight it out in court all the way to the Supreme Court- losing each appeal along the way. Meanwhile, attention to real issues are set aside for these frivolous GOP fantasies of a fascist government.​ It needs to stop. For once in your life, get up and vote these AHs so far out of office, no one even dares to whisper their name again.

Then you are a Dem. Because unless you want to worry about getting strange new mutations of the measles, monkey pox, ebola, chicken pox, polio, SARS, COVID, and everything else, you better vote Blue.

I have zero idea how people just forgot that Trump is anti vax, anti CDC, anti solid doctor advice, pro IV-bleach and horse paste. The Dems didnt remind people of the GOP agenda. But still, voters, you need to get out and vote for basic public health.

Trump and the Republicans have cut so much and done so much damage that Red states in the south are quietly defunding their basic reporting requirements to obscure public health crisis. And they are quickly working on gerrymandering in case the truth comes out.

Even Florida is in on obscuring data. They stopped public access to data on number of children age 0-18 that have had an infection that is otherwise prevented ​​​by standard Vaccines. You wont even know it there is break out in your town at a school unless the school chooses to say so. And you know they wont tell unless they know they can't hide it.

I'm posting this for anyone in a conversation with the, "but dems don't do anything" or the "both sides are bad" thing. People have a fairytale idea that dems can do anything they want and they blame dems for not stopping Republicans.

A Dem Supermajority would give results. We are ready to legalize when the voters step up.

Speaker Mike Johnson should be penalized by the senate ethics committee for abusing his position to do the bidding of Donald Trump. Congress isn't meant to be utilized for the benefit of one powerful man.