These words below from the Rev. William Barber II really gripped me. He speaks to the proposal to cut SNAP benefits to individuals, families, and children by $230 billion in the next 10 years. This is part of the current effort to create “one big, beautiful bill.”
“This is one reason why the resolution Congress has passed to guide the current budget process on Capitol Hill is so extreme. It calls for the Agriculture Committee in the House to cut $230 billion from SNAP over the next decade. They are scheduled to vote this week on proposals for how to do this. Every option on the table would mean millions more US children go hungry.
“Which begs a simple question: why?
“Why does another child need to go hungry in America?
“This is the question every member of the House Agriculture committee should have to answer before they vote.
“The budget resolution the House is working under proposes many cuts, but it also includes some significant increases. The moral issue at stake is which spending priority justifies the violence of starving a child?
“Should another child go hungry so a corporation in America can pay a lower tax rate?
“Should another child go hungry so we can ‘reduce the debt’?
“Should another child go hungry so rouge homeland security forces can have more funding to disappear people from our communities to offshore gulags?
“Should another child go hungry here so our Defense Department can have more money to support wars that are starving children elsewhere?”
— Rev. William Barber II
Note: In the last question, I have linked to an article about the current blockade that the Israeli army is enforcing in Gaza, barring all food aid. This has been going on for three months, and children and adults are malnourished and at risk for starvation. This, too, is a grave injustice, and I believe we need to raise the alarm and advocate for human rights, safety, and resources for Palestinians.
Please read more here, here, and here.
Smuggling Grace 