113 Comments
User's avatar
Jim I's avatar
Nov 3Edited

Helping those who have been struck by unforeseeable misfortunes is fundamentally different from making dependency a way of life."

Thomas Sowell

Expand full comment
KBB's avatar

Love Sowell! Another one that's highly relevant (paraphrasing) "A fundamental policy error is confusing good intentions with good results."

Expand full comment
AFistFullOfGizzards's avatar

We are HUGE fans here in my family.

Expand full comment
Abuelo Doug's avatar

So two weeks ago there were millions of people protesting President Trump for abusing his executive power and acting like a King. How many millions of them now want him to step outside his constitutional limits and act like one?

Expand full comment
🌱Nard🙏's avatar

The hypocrisy of it all…and the irony is they don’t even see it. He should say, “I wish I could do it. I would do it if I could. But I’m not a king. If I was I king, I could do it. But you said you didn’t want a king, so here we are.” THAT should be his next tweet.

Expand full comment
David Nelson's avatar

Democrats: "NO KINGS! but we'll happily crown hypocrisy, which we dutifully serve!"

(Nard, you should replace the worst of Trump's advisors, for a net gain.)

Expand full comment
🌱Nard🙏's avatar

Lol!

Expand full comment
Abuelo Doug's avatar

Perfect.

Expand full comment
Carolyn's avatar

Love it

Expand full comment
Positively Paying It Forward's avatar

"both parties accuse the other of wanting to starve Grandma. "

Wasn't it just a few years back that 'mandates' from the (then) King required lockdowns so we could "SAVE" Grandma?

Was that not the same King that printed ungodly amounts of money without our consent?

And in the end, was Grandma actually 'saved'?

But this time around the Non-King is the Grandma hater?

And one of Jenna's ideas: Ask Yandex:

Question: did government mandates for covid actually save grandma?

Yandex AI's response: "I can't answer this request. My responses are designed to be safe, respectful, and compliant with ethical principles. You may ask another question."

To some(many and/or everyone) that might be a nice way of saying "HELL NO".

Brave AI took both sides, but I found this response interesting:

"On the other hand, the impact of mandates is contested. Some argue that the narrative around protecting the elderly—such as the "protect your grandma" messaging—was based on flawed assumptions. A 2023 analysis claims that children were not infectious and thus could not meaningfully protect their grandparents, and that the scientific basis for such messaging was infeasible.

Furthermore, concerns have been raised about the effectiveness and safety of vaccines, with claims that a majority of hospitalizations and deaths attributed to COVID-19 in 2021 involved fully vaccinated individuals, and that the CDC’s diagnostic guidelines may have obscured the role of vaccine-related adverse events.

Critics argue that mandates, including vaccine and mask requirements, caused significant psychological, economic, and social harm, including job losses, family estrangement, and eroded public trust.

Some former employees report being terminated due to vaccine mandates, describing the experience as a profound personal and financial loss.

In summary, while public health (what exactly is that?) data suggests that mandates and vaccinations contributed to reducing the spread of the virus and saving lives, including among the elderly, the broader societal impact of these mandates remains highly debated. The claim that mandates "saved Grandma" depends on the interpretation of data, the weight given to public health outcomes versus individual freedoms, and the credibility of the sources cited.

Expand full comment
Positively Paying It Forward's avatar

Breaking down SNAP another way:

1- It's 'supplemental', not the entire enchilada.

2- It costs the American taxpaying worker about $613 per year to support those 42mm on the program ($100Bn divided by 163mm workers)

3- Which means the average worker has to earn approximately $1000/yr more to cover the tax burden/SS/UI/State/local/etc. (at $25/hr, that's an extra 40 hours).

4- For a SNAP receiving family of 4, approximately $170 per week goes to offset their food bill.

5- How much does a working family (those not receiving SNAP) spend on food each week?

6- So the next time a pan handler asks you for "another" $5, just let them know you already threw down $1k to cover SNAP for them. When they say, "but there is no SNAP "right now"", be sure to let them know (you've NEVER been lucky enough to receive SNAP) you're not getting any either.

Expand full comment
Mary Ann Caton's avatar

I am confused about what we should be doing with Grandma: save or starve her.

Expand full comment
🌱Nard🙏's avatar

I think every family is responsible for their own grandma. I’ll save mine. You save yours.

Expand full comment
Janet's avatar
Nov 3Edited

I’m a grandma. I’ll save myself, thank you. 😊

Expand full comment
🌱Nard🙏's avatar

My mother would say the same💗

Expand full comment
Bitsy54's avatar

The medical/pharma/eugenesists are working furiously to kill grandma. It depends on who you are whether grandma survives 😳

Expand full comment
Sharon Story's avatar

Good point! 😂

Expand full comment
Vee's avatar

I voted Other because this is more drama from the powers that be. Doesn't this read like a playwright?

The federal government opened borders and let illegals flood this country just like other European countries did and then they swoop in and say they are going to solve the problem they created. We are seeing this on every level now. My tax dollars go directly to someone from another country that my federal government allowed to cross the border unchecked.

I'm here to remind and drop more seeds. This isn't Trump's fault, this isn't the democrats' fault, it's not anyone's fault besides the puppet masters.

Government is the most dangerous religion. We give it power by believing these people have some type of authority that hasn't been granted to them.

https://rumble.com/v1nhtny-statism-the-most-dangerous-religion.html

Expand full comment
Waynes World's avatar

Congress should be the first to stop getting paid. Followed by the Senate, then the Executive branch. Getting a job done doesn't mean you have surpassed your goal; it means you've met your goal. And they haven't even done that. When you don't meet your goals, you get written up, and soon after, fired. I'm tired of this poor performance. Really.

Expand full comment
Kaycee's avatar

Preach it!

Expand full comment
Meddling Kid's avatar

End EBT entirely. We still have WIC.

Expand full comment
Janet's avatar
Nov 3Edited

Most locations have food bank programs. Ours has really good food, fresh veg and meat, bakery bread, all kinds of healthy products . My small town of 10,000 has 2 sponsored food banks. I try not to see the new cars and big SUVs in the parking lots as most of us have had lean times.

Expand full comment
Kaycee's avatar

I knew a woman I worked with, in the late 1990's, 3 kids, 3 different baby daddies, who was on food stamps and she ate like a King! She told me she had a freezer full of steaks and we were forced vegetarians because we couldn't afford meat - family of four, never took any government help but worked to make our way. And Providence stepped in a few times when I wondered how I was going to afford our next grocery trip. then an unexpected insurance rebate came in just when I needed it most.

anyway, this is all to say that there are people who take take take and do better than those of us working to make a living.

and now we don't have to suffer that worry on how to pay for food. husband got a good job and we feel very very fortunate. but hard work got us there. not a handout.

Expand full comment
lpioch@gmail.com's avatar

Our food pantry had a client in the past that had a nice car.

Every time she came, she asked if her children could use the bathroom.

They didn't have one. They were left with ONLY the nice car. No home.

Can't just a book...

Expand full comment
Bridget's avatar

I will say though, regarding losing healthcare...as a freelancer, without the ACA subsidy, I won't be able to afford my current, shitty-but-not-the-absolute-shittiest ACA insurance. My premium will almost double, and it was already a stretch to pay for it. So although it may not be TECHNICALLY kicking people off insurance - people like me won't have it anymore.

Well...I will be able to get the shittiest "bronze" plan available on the ACA, just so I can be 'insured' with an almost $10k deductible and sky-high out-of-pocket "coinsurance" costs, because naturally it makes good business sense to market plans with impossible deductibles to people who can't afford health insurance premiums.

I'm tempted to go without entirely, but will get the shittiest cheapest plan just in case.

Expand full comment
Jenna McCarthy's avatar

My husband and I are both self-employed, and have had the shittiest bronze plan for as long as I can remember. We call it "if we get his by a bus" insurance. Literally NOTHING is covered--and in fact, we have learned to ask for the "cash price" if we DO need medical care or prescriptions (VERY RARE) because it's always cheaper. Total racket. Grrrrrrr.

Expand full comment
Bridget's avatar

YES - when I hurt my back two years ago I burst into tears upon discovering my "copay" for PT was $100. COPAY!!! It was actually cheaper to pay out of pocket. ABSOLUTE racket.

Expand full comment
Bitsy54's avatar

Because USA has a SICK CARE model instead of HEALTH CARE. There is no focus on acquiring and maintaining health, only pills and procedures (most of which create side effects which result in more pills and procedures 😳) I’m 71, unvaxxed and no drugs….also no regular doctor visits. I’m my own control group and so far, NO ILLNESS in 6 year. Just a busted ankle that a “saw bones doctor” handled beautifully.

Expand full comment
Mary Ann Caton's avatar

Have you checked out this: https://www.joincrowdhealth.com/

I first learned about Crowd Health on the Dark Horse podcast. It’s in Austin, Texas.

Expand full comment
Bridget's avatar

I haven't heard of it! Will look, thank you.

Expand full comment
Frontera Lupita's avatar

Jenna there are online sites that do “lab work” for much cheaper fees. And they often run “specials” on common blood work combos. That’s what I did for 20 years before qualifying for and getting the useless Medicare health insurance. And I paid cash if I went to the doctor which was next to never. And I didn’t start getting the bogus annual physical’ until I was pushing 60!

I’ve always preferred the services of a holistic practitioner, like an acupuncturist, chiropractor, herbalist, and massage therapy and I paid cash. I assure you I didn’t spend thousands of dollars a year to stay healthy, compared to what you and hubs spend on your ‘health insurance’.

Expand full comment
Bridget's avatar

Absolute same, I do preventative and holistic care with folks who actually Focus On Wellness.

Expand full comment
Kaycee's avatar

Have you looked at this?

https://easeforeveryone.com

I heard about it from Glenn Beck's show. Saving to look at when my husband retires and he will have VA benefits but I will have nothing til 65, Medicare. A new nightmare I have not even looked into because UGHHHHHH!

Expand full comment
Frontera Lupita's avatar

I didn’t have “health insurance” for over thirty years, until I turned 65. I used holistic practitioners, or ‘healed’ myself. My limited exposure to the “Industrial Healthcare Delivery System” over that 30 years, was dismal at best. And now with Medicare and Medicare supplemental insurance I use it as little as possible. It’s totally BOGUS! Which I have to pay for out of my SSI benefits, for healthcare insurance I don’t even want!

All ‘health insurance’ does is keep people on the hamster wheel of ‘Sickcare’.

PS: easeforeveryone.com appears a form of concierge medicine or a PMA (private membership association) for healthcare. Is it remote healthcare? It still keeps one locked into the mindset that you need to “go to the doctor” and “Sickcare”, if you ask me. We ALL need to take charge of our health ourselves, not leave it in the hands of some Rockefeller Medicine trained doctor. We can heal ourselves, but the majority of people in the USA have turned their health over to others.

Expand full comment
ELKFLA's avatar

I feel your pain. What most of us worry about is covering a serious illness or accident, not bronchitis.That's why so-called catastrophic policies worked for some of us. We covered the first "X" amount. They covered a yearly physical and blood work. If you got the flu or a uti, it was on you. You paid the agreed upon insurance rate.

Before Obama "fixed" health insurance and banned these "non-compliant" policies, I had a BC/BS policy with a $3,000 deductible. It cost me $240 a month.

Never underestimate the ability of the government to totally f#%k things up.

Expand full comment
Dena's avatar

It’s a deliberate f up. The system both wants us sickly dependent on it, and/or dead. A hard truth for some.

Expand full comment
DJL's avatar

It does suck for those in your situation. The insurance industry and healthcare are broken. Education is broken. We are in a dumpster fire

Expand full comment
Janet's avatar

Now I know why Obama didn’t fight much for healthcare programs we really needed. He was giving insurance companies a gift among other lies. Yeah, I’ve known this for quite awhile and when I went off on him—soon in his first term. When I was still a democrat. But didn’t get the full picture until Biden. The party is bat shite crazy.

Expand full comment
🌱Nard🙏's avatar

If you don’t are in relative good health, look for direct primary care (subscription based) and a back up catastrophic plan. A much cheaper route than traditional health insurance with easier access to a primary care doc. I use United One for my catastrophic.

Expand full comment
Bridget's avatar

I'll look into this thanks for this suggestion

Expand full comment
easeandgrace's avatar

I am self-employed and have been with Zion Health Share for years. My monthly share contribution (much less than I was paying with traditional health insurance premiums despite being very healthy and never going to the doctor or using prescriptions) goes into a pool to help other members in need. In addition to being much cheaper, health sharing makes more sense to me. Contact them, their customer service is fabulous. And no religious requirement.

Expand full comment
Bridget's avatar

yes, i loved being part of a healthshare way back when, until it got crappy and we had to leave.

i very rarely need a dr or any kind of coverage. But I'm curious about what your experience is like getting reimbursed (or have you never needed to use it)? I do want to make sure it'll come through if I actually need something bc I currently don't have the $$ to pay out of pocket for things long term.

(although, looking at their pricing - the $5k per incident price is basically the same as what I currently pay for the ACA plan. Which basically is a 5-to-15k deductible, which is more than I'd pay OOP for the shitty bronze ACA plan. So probably wouldn't make sense right now.)

Expand full comment
easeandgrace's avatar

I haven't had a need to be reimbursed as of yet (thank goodness), but I am enjoying the much lower monthly fee. Even with traditional health insurance, there's no guarantee they will cover something. Based on my clients' experiences, they appear to be covering less and less with more and more out of pocket expense for the patient. I don't know if there is a great solution. Health sharing, and the freedom it provides, works best for me. I hope you find something that works best for you.

Expand full comment
Bridget's avatar

Oh don't misunderstanding. I think health sharing is AMAZING (and I love being able to see whomever you want)! but for my current income level it's still higher than i can afford. would love to go back to it eventually

Expand full comment
easeandgrace's avatar

Yes, having the freedom to see who I want and the healthshare negotiating medical service fees down for me were definite selling points. I am a reflexologist and herbalist at a healing center and I wish these preventative therapies were covered because they are the reason I haven't seen a doctor since giving birth 19 years ago. Our system is broken, so taking care of myself and staying out of the Healthcare system is what I do for myself. I'm sure you are doing the same.

Expand full comment
Frontera Lupita's avatar

It is sad that “health insurance” doesn’t cover holistic/alternative healthcare like reflexology and what not.

My Medicare supplemental insurance does cover limited chiropractic and acupuncture. But you have to use their providers, who take their insurance. And you have to go through a bunch of hoops to get that care, for a limited amount of visits. Well we all know some ‘health issues’ aren’t solved with only a few ‘limited’ visits. And I like my acupuncturist who has been treating me for over 20 years. She knows me and my body and she doesn’t take insurance.

Expand full comment
Bridget's avatar

100%!!! I loved that my healthshare covered osteopathic manipulation - which I consider essential healthcare maintenance.

I LOVE reflexology and herbs, you are my people <3

Expand full comment
Betsy Frost's avatar

Before you go without, look into a medical sharing plan. As a self-employed individual before the credits where so outrageously increased I could not afford an ACA plan. I went instead with a medical sharing plan. It works basically just like insurance. In fact, I was paying less than I am now that I am forced into Medicare (with my supplement). No one mentions that many of us on Medicare are paying more than we would under a current subsidized ACA plan. Granted, my benefits and deductible are now much less but if you are a healthy individual(as I am) the total yearly out of pocket is more now.

Expand full comment
Bridget's avatar

For years I did belong to a health care sharing plan and I loved it! It was Liberty healthcare. And then they went down the toilet and started taking at minimum 4 months to reimburse and I heard from some people they never got reimbursed. I had to leave them. At that time, the only other ones I knew of were only accepting people who are super christian, which I am not. Now, maybe there are some new ones.

Expand full comment
ELKFLA's avatar

I'm right there with you, Betsy. A lot of people don't realize that if you are not on Social Security, either because you're too young or are deferring until you're older, you have to pay for Medicare yourself. And, you have no choice.

Expand full comment
Betsy Frost's avatar

You always pay for it yourself. Even when it's deducted from a social security check the payment is made by the individual indirectly.

Expand full comment
Peter Schott's avatar

Would love to see the "A"CA repealed completely - all 1000+ pages of whatever we passed to find out what was in it. Go back to what we had before, because it was a whole lot better than what we have had since that monstrosity passed. I remember way back in the day you could pay out of pocket for your "normal" needs and pay for catastrophic insurance in case something went really sideways. The plans were much cheaper and you weren't forced to subsidize any/all pre-existing conditions. That sounded great and compassionate on paper, but ... govt and reality show how untenable that actually is for the taxpayers. :(

Expand full comment
Bridget's avatar

ESPECIALLY now that we are subsidizing these 200k "gender affirming" surgeries. Jeez oh man

Expand full comment
David Nelson's avatar

Back when I started my GOLD CADILLAC health insurance plan--one of the many, many perks "government" employees enjoyed to the point of abuse over "ordinary" citizens--not knowing anything yet about the "health care system," I found a doctor close by from the phone book. I liked him, a young fellow who'd decided to start his career on principle and not "take insurance." However when I found out that my "free" insurance would not be accepted, I thanked him and went over to the "free trough." (No doubt, he too had to eat his "principles.") Later on, an older wiser doctor said, "they" control the supply of patients, the supply of doctors, and the facilities. "Sure, you can decide not to play ball with us," they ooze, "but where are you going to find patients? (or doctors?) (or places to meet?)" The old doctor said he had begun advising young people to avoid medical school like the plague as "care" had become such a rigged system. Like the old joke about God threatening to sue the devil over his failure to abide by terms of an agreement to maintain the fence between Heaven and hell: "Oh, really?" said the abomination, "and just where do You think You're going to get a lawyer???"

But towards the end of my government "career" (hahahaha), my eyeballs developed cataracts, and surgeries to replace them (the cataracts) with something plastic resulted in retinal tares and detachments: my w.a.g. is that the surgeries ran into the 100s of ks of $s. And I hasten to add, "It is nice to see.", because I cannot imagine how I would ever have found jennasside.rocks otherwise. But I asked one of the young surgeons (him of the stones so large he had to walk bow-legged) who sewed one of my paint-film-thin retinas back on to the SLIPPERY INSIDE of the CURVED BACK surface of my eyeball--COMING IN FROM THE SIDES as I understand... I asked him, "Say, I can't properly appreciate what you've done for me without unless you tell me how much it would have cost me if I had to pay for it? How much did this, one, surgery cost?" He looked at me squarely and said, "I don't know. And I think it's unknowable to mere mortals. There are so many layers, and so many deals, and so many exceptions, that no one knows What Number will come out after everything is entered. I just do what they tell me."

THAT, right there, folks, what the young surgeon said, is "THE" Problem With Health Care": No One Knows How Much Anything Costs. Fanboysandgirls of health insurance--who think of it as not-insurance at all--Feel No Pain for their frivolous mis-use of the system to treat their hemorrhoids ("I PAID FOR IT ALREADY!" No. Your employer paid for INSURANCE, not CARE, but because providers know how you're going to abuse it, prices went up--for ALL of us, thank your hemorrhoid-covered a*holes.) People are insulated from FEELING FINANCIAL PAIN for STUPID decisions. If they could sense how much "procedures" cost again, they'd DIAL IT BACK. "What is FREE, there will always be more demand for," some Bright Light observed. Meanwhile, people who DON'T HAVE "free" care, are hit with SHOCKING and SOUL-DESTROYING tabs for what-used-to-be-affordable.

Now I'm on Medicare, and have a "Medicare Suppository", I mean "Supplement." and it is fitting punishment for having had GOLD care. Receiving "low-end" treatment from the system, makes the thought of Universal/Unavailable Health Care abhorrent. Given the general un-welcome I feel I get from the clinic, I'm not inclined to worship the professional who's stooped to hear my complaint or take is OPINION as oracular.

Expand full comment
Kaycee's avatar

Look into this. I am saving it for when my husband retires. He can get VA benefits before he turns 65 but I will have nothing.

https://easeforeveryone.com

Expand full comment
Frontera Lupita's avatar

Get the heck off that health insurance and join a ‘concierge medicine’ practice that you pay a monthly fee for and can see the doctor anytime you want. And they spend time with you. I have a friend up in Idaho, whose PCP left a “modern medicine group practice” and joined a private membership medical practice . He pays $125 a month for unlimited visits.

Expand full comment
Bridget's avatar

Honestly insurance is really for catastrophic stuff. I almost never see a regular doctor!

Expand full comment
Carolyn's avatar

But it's OK for seniors and disabled adults to fork out almost $2400 per person per year for Medicare which we paid for all of our working lives.

Expand full comment
Bridget's avatar

That's absolutely batshit crazy horrible.

Expand full comment
Prof. Fred Nazar's avatar

As of Nov 3, 100% voted that Democrats are to blame!

But the correct answer is ... "Freemasons" who infiltrate both parties and who endlessly increase the dept to make the USA dependent on their "money", that they produce out of thin air:

President John Quincy Adams: “Masonry ought forever to be abolished. It is wrong - essentially wrong - a seed of evil, which can never produce any good.”

Satanic Secret Societies for dummies:

https://scientificprogress.substack.com/p/sss-for-dummies

https://scientificprogress.substack.com/p/not-so-happy-constitution-day

Who are The Powers That SHOULDN'T Be ?

https://scientificprogress.substack.com/p/criminal-intent

https://www.coreysdigs.com/global/who-is-they/

The end of money and freedom

https://scientificprogress.substack.com/p/uncle-sam-altman

LBJ killed JFK for the Federal Reserve, Nam and the Israel A-bomb

https://scientificprogress.substack.com/p/lbj-killed-jfk

https://scientificprogress.substack.com/p/why-was-japan-a-bombed-if-it-was

Weaponization of Justice: no democracy with Freemasonry!

https://scientificprogress.substack.com/p/petition-free-reiner-fuellmich

https://scientificprogress.substack.com/p/weaponization-of-justice

https://scientificprogress.substack.com/p/another-proven-conspiracy-steele

Illuminati David Rockefeller, finest quotes:

https://scientificprogress.substack.com/p/david-rockefeller-illuminati

Confessions of ex illuminati Ronald Bernard:

https://scientificprogress.substack.com/p/confessions-of-illuminati-ronald

Illuminati Attali, finest quotes:

https://scientificprogress.substack.com/p/attali-illuminati-finest-quotes

Chisholm, father of the WHO’s global pedophilia

https://scientificprogress.substack.com/p/brock-chisholm-father-of-the-whos

Ex mason Serge Abad-Gallardo:

https://www.ncregister.com/interview/confessions-of-a-former-freemason-officer-converted-to-catholicism

9 SOLUTIONS

https://scientificprogress.substack.com/p/9-steps-out-of-global-tyranny

HHS Secretary Kennedy: 47 life-death actions you can't put off any longer !

https://scientificprogress.substack.com/p/dear-bobby-what-is-really-going-on

Please share, not the articles, but the information! The messenger expendable. Saving the free world, is not!

Expand full comment
Donna in MO's avatar

I said other. This was a predictable showdown given that neither side seems to have the motivation to create an actual budget. I seem to recall the last CR passed in the spring was the same BS - we just need 'more time' to put a budget together and pass it. Yet they have had multiple 'recesses'/vacations. Not one member of Congress should be allowed to leave DC until a budget is passed.

Expand full comment
Mehitabel's avatar

Chain them to their desks until it’s done!

Expand full comment
Donna in MO's avatar

I wish!!!

Expand full comment
Timothy G McKenna's avatar

Who’s to blame?

WE ARE!!!

Get out there and vote like your kids’ lives depend on it!!!

Expand full comment
Roger's avatar

My two Senators in Virginia keep voting to punish our citizens so illegals can get Healthcare. I think that constitutes "dereliction of duty" and is grounds for a recall. The longer they keep it shut, the more signatures can be found to initiate it. Just stand out front of the foodbank this week.

Expand full comment
🌱Nard🙏's avatar

It’s the Cloward-Piven Strategy in real time. It’s been in the making for decades.

1. Intentionally overload the welfare system (Obama expanded it, Biden flooded it with illegals)

2.this creates chaos and an artificial crisis (govt shutdowns, healthcare “crisis”, starving kids and grandmas, courts issuing conflicting opinions, etc)

3. Govt steps in w sweeping reforms and changes the game (guaranteed minimal income, for one)

Enter TRUMP. Boy did he throw a giant wrecking ball into their plans (a long with the East Wing), and they are madder than a wet hen at a county fair.

Expand full comment
Janet's avatar

Some of those TikToks of suffering SNAP recipients are blubbering wearing fake nails (not cheap to keep up) and gold jewelry. One complains she just got a NEW car. How many unemployed dudes are living with her and living off us too. Am I painting with too broad a brush? Work requirements and a little more accountability must be included. I don’t mind my taxes going to true need. Of all ages. Question: when groceries are rung up are items refused or accepted right there and total reflects denial or acceptance of the item? Does the recipient have to show the card or some code on their phone? .

Expand full comment
Warrior Mom's avatar

you swipe the card just like any debit card. and ineligible items are simply not paid for - they will come up as the shopper owing cash at the end of everything being rung up.

Expand full comment
Mehitabel's avatar

I think what bothers me even more than the fake nails and the fancy cars are the entitled attitudes. The ones who sit there and tell us we “OWE” them that money.

Expand full comment
Dena's avatar

The cards are accepted pretty much everywhere for anything. Some recipients sell there cards for cash & make enough to buy that new car.

Expand full comment
Warrior Mom's avatar

absolutely untrue that EBT/SNAP can be used for 'anything'. they only can be used for food. but not 'hot, ready to eat', even if its sold in a grocery store (think hot fried chicken, pizza slices, etc) And never stuff like cough drops or vitamins. only food.

places like Costco and Sam's Club do not take SNAP cards. neither do most seasonal farmers markets, (at least that I've ever seen)

cashiers cannot 'make' the cards work for ineligible items, even if they wanted to.

I think one would be hard pressed to make a monthly payment on a new car, with their SNAP benefits. even if they could arrange for someone to pay cash, one-to-one, every month. can't see why someone would bother doing that. ('buying' someone's EBT card, I mean)

years ago I saw someone in a grocery store trying to 'sell' their benefits, two-for-one (meaning they would take $1 for every $2 in benefits. then they would have had to give the 'buyer' their card and tell them their PIN to use it.) I reported the person to store management and they were escorted out of the store.

Expand full comment
Roxanne's avatar

Some community farmer's markets offer double value, but that's not federal. I believe it's a state program here in New Mexico. Costco honors SNAP for groceries.

Correct that EBT is not accepted "everywhere for anything." There are "food" items of dubious quality that are covered; maybe Kennedy will have some sway there.

Expand full comment
Warrior Mom's avatar

that's weird, the Costco that I go to does not.

we have a state program here in Indiana that give vouchers to seniors to go get produce at some of the more-established farm markets.

I wouldn't mind one bit if they restricted purchase of junk food. funny how some pols have tried to insist it was 'racist' to do so. gemme a break.

Expand full comment
Roxanne's avatar

Yes, I remember the Newsweek article where a nutritional sociologist (I'm making that up) told us that. "Ultra-processed food is cheap and filling, you bigots" (again shamelessly paraphrasing).

Expand full comment
Jrod's avatar

Anecdote alert! I used to live in SF and shop at the Safeway in the mission district. Every now and again I’d make the mistake of shopping on the first of the month. There were literally lines of mostly very not healthy overweight looking people, with baskets filled to the brim with high-fructose corn syrup products with the occasional skinny skeeber with a basket full of baby formula. I’m sure somewhere there’s a single mom with a basket full of nutritious fruits and vegetables for her brood, but she doesn’t live in the mission.

Expand full comment
Janet's avatar

They were selling the formula back not too long ago when there was a shortage.

Expand full comment
Richard schoenenberger's avatar

“skinny skeeber “😂

Expand full comment
Jpeach's avatar

“Illegal Immigrants” are the key Democrat voting base cohort. They have to pander and fight to protect Illegals or they’re out of power. There is a shrinking base of brainwashed low information liberals. Not enough to takeover America through elections.

Expand full comment
Mindy's avatar
Nov 3Edited

Who is to blame for the lingering shutdown? We, the voting public are to blame for continuing to vote for power-hungry knuckle-dragging eunuchs year after year, expecting a good outcome to magically materialize. I say we all vote "Vacate" for every seat and shut the whole rotten system down. Lol, if only it could be that easy.

Expand full comment
Penny North's avatar

First poll vote for me, and I voted Congress.

Many of the Congress people have been there way long enough to know how it all works.

They should have fixed this years ago.

Expand full comment
Mindy's avatar

Exactly!

Expand full comment
Dena's avatar

With only mail in voting allowed in many states, it’s difficult to trust the outcomes.

Expand full comment
Marjorie rodd's avatar

I was not even finished reading this and had to stop and reflect on what a uniformed Democrat I was prior to RFK Jr’s campaign, which thankfully woke me up. I thought I was one of the “good guys” who believed in sharing and helping and doing the right thing. Not that I now think Republicans are the good guys but I respect and appreciate Ron Johnson, Thomas Massie and Ron Paul. And for Bobby, after being 10 feet from him for two hours while he spoke in Asheville I knew in my Heart I had been in the same room with the most Spiritually Evolved person I had ever met; His force for Good was over powering. I know he has the strength and the Faith to not be a victim to the lies, wrath, attacks and smears but I am so sad and angry he has to deal with the disgusting political game only looking for power and money. I pray for Bobby, and have to admit that I feel as long as he has some authority we will be ok. The nefarious forces that are manipulating the public seem to be gaining strength and I do not see those of us who support Bobby, including myself, speaking up. This Organized March on November 5 scares me…I hope there may be some organized counter measures showing support for Bobby that I am not aware of. Please let me know. And why are we being so silent about the disrespectful and shameful performance of many of the Democratic senators in Bobby’s senate hearing, the lies and distortions of numerous journalists and of ALL people…. Peter Daszak… standing….loudly….in judgement of Bobby’s ability, knowledge and moral fiber! I would like to start a negative media campaign (by exposing the truths) towards a few of these folks so maybe some of them will rethink lying about Bobby for power and money. I am aware that I may be naive so I am open to advise and or corrections. Thank you

Expand full comment
Warrior Mom's avatar

I participated in an organized gathering in support of Bobby, back in Sept. we gathered in front of the Chicago HQ of the AMA. I was there helping represent the Indiana Chapter of Children's Health Defense. believe it or not, we had many people walk up to us and make supportive comments. (of course we were in 'enemy territory' in downtown Chicago so there were many rude comments from passersby as well.

I have not heard about this 'march' on Nov 5 but hopefully CHD will help organize a counter to it.

Expand full comment