Political Quotes

“this is exactly what it looks like. The President of the United States is going out of his way to make sure that people don't have enough to eat. And it is hard to believe because it does sound crazy; it does sound partisan. But he really is using hunger as a political weapon. Let's back up for a second. On September 30, this administration, the Trump administration, released a plan saying that they were going to use a contingency fund to pay SNAP benefits during the shutdown. This is the way it has been done every time there is a shutdown. There is a pocket of money that is literally there to pay SNAP benefits in case there is an emergency of any kind, including a lapse in appropriations. Then 3 weeks later, they said: Never mind. We are not permitted to pay these benefits during a shutdown. That was clearly not the case, and they had already issued guidance saying: We are going to use this funding. They pulled it because they wanted to create leverage. Then, they went to court to argue against paying these SNAP benefits. Then, two separate judges said: Not only are you permitted to use this contingency fund to pay nutritional assistance benefits to the working poor, children, the elderly, the disabled--not only are you permitted to do that--you are required under the statute to do that. Now you have two Federal judges saying the law is clear. It is not a question of whether you are permitted to do it or not.…”