Category: Snap benefits to end
Woman goes viral after admitting to being on SNAP benefits for 3 decades
A video showing a woman complaining about her lack of food aid benefits is going viral because she admitted that she’s been on the dole for 30 years.
Maggie Aragon of New Mexico was interviewed on a KOAT-TV news story intending to drum up sympathy for the tens of millions of Americans who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. The program was facing suspension over the ongoing government shutdown.
‘Welfare was meant to lift people up, not trap them forever. When do we start rewarding work again?’
“The first thing I did was grab my phone and call, and when I heard ‘zero dollars,’ my chest went into my throat!” Aragon said to KOAT. “I have depended on those benefits since the 1990s, and it’s detrimental to my life if I don’t get them.”
She told the outlet that she often had to rely on food banks in addition to SNAP in order to survive.
Video of Aragon’s comments went viral on social media, where it garnered millions of views.
Many pounced on the admission to criticize the program.
“I can barely afford my own bills and this useless eater has been on food stamps for 30 f**king years. She’s been living off MY taxes for 30 f**king years. Cut it off. Let them suffer,” author Matt Forney replied.
“Millions of people live entirely as wards of the state, completely disconnected from the world of work and self-sufficiency. How can this be sustainable?” writer Brian Almon responded.
“Look, I feel sympathy for people like this on a human level. But she hasn’t been able to get a job in three decades? This smells of manufactured dependency, not unavoidable hardship,” one user responded.
“Let’s say this woman is 65, which maybe she is … she has good skin, so possibly younger … that means she’s been on food stamps since she was in her early 30s or maybe younger. That is literally insane,” commentator Ryan Girdusky said.
“Thirty years on food stamps says everything about the system, not the person. Welfare was meant to lift people up, not trap them forever. When do we start rewarding work again?” another user said.
Others defended Aragon on the possibility that she was suffering from a disability and was unable to work.
RELATED: Judges rule that food stamp benefits cannot be suspended over shutdown — and Trump responds
At least one police department said it had increased patrols around grocery stores and food banks to avoid robbery and unrest.
“These increased patrols are not in response to any specific incident, but are a preventive measure to maintain public safety, deter theft, and reassure the community that law enforcement is present and ready to help,” reads a statement from the Barstow Police Department.
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Judges rule that food stamp benefits cannot be suspended over shutdown — and Trump responds
The threat to cut food aid benefits was ended by two court rulings that said the Trump administration would need to use contingency plans to keep the money flowing.
Democrats and Republicans have been blaming each other for the U.S. Department of Agriculture plan to cut off Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits on Nov. 1.
‘I do NOT want Americans to go hungry just because the Radical Democrats refuse to do the right thing and REOPEN THE GOVERNMENT.’
On Friday, judges in Massachusetts and Rhode Island ruled that SNAP benefits could not be cut.
“There is no doubt and it is beyond argument that irreparable harm will begin to occur, if it hasn’t already occurred in the terror it has caused some people about the availability of funding for food, for their family,” said U.S. District Judge John McConnell in Providence.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston similarly ruled that the “suspension of SNAP payments was based on the erroneous conclusion that the contingency funds could not be used to ensure continuation of SNAP payments.”
Both judges McConnell and Talwani were appointed by former President Joe Biden.
The president responded to the rulings in a post on Truth Social.
“Our Government lawyers do not think we have the legal authority to pay SNAP with certain monies we have available, and now two Courts have issued conflicting opinions on what we can and cannot do,” the president said.
“I do NOT want Americans to go hungry just because the Radical Democrats refuse to do the right thing and REOPEN THE GOVERNMENT,” he added. “Therefore, I have instructed our lawyers to ask the Court to clarify how we can legally fund SNAP as soon as possible.”
RELATED: California police increase patrols around grocery stores ahead of possible food stamp shutoff
He went on to blame Democrats for the shutdown and called on Americans to pressure Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York to reopen the government.
“If we are given the appropriate legal direction by the Court, it will BE MY HONOR to provide the funding, just like I did with Military and Law Enforcement Pay,” Trump added.
About 42 million Americans depend on the SNAP program for food aid. Polling shows that far more Americans blame Democrats for this shutdown than during the first government shutdown during Trump’s first term.
“If you use SNAP benefits, call the Senate Democrats, and tell them to reopen the Government, NOW!” Trump concluded.
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