THE SET-UP: FOX News ran a shocking headline today…
Trump admin warns 42 million Americans could lose food stamps as shutdown drags on
…but it’s not shocking in the way FOX News intended. Their story emphasized the regime’s talking points:
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said it does not have the ability to independently reshuffle funds into the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps, according to a recent memo obtained by Fox News Digital.
By the way, that “recent memo obtained by Fox News Digital” line is a transparent bit of sophistry meant to give readers the impression the memo was obtained through good ol’ fashioned shoe-leather reporting. It was not. It was written for and then sent to friendly media megaphones like FOX News so they would cut and paste lines like this:
“Due to Congressional Democrats’ refusal to pass a clean continuing resolution (CR), approximately 42 million individuals will not receive their SNAP benefits come November 1st,” the memo said.
And this:
USDA emphasized its point with an announcement on its website seen Monday morning that said, “Senate Democrats have now voted 12 times to not fund the food stamp program, also known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).”
Blame is the name of the political game in a shutdown and that’s what FOX News emphasized ... because that’s what they do. Hell, that’s all they do. Can you remember the last time FOX News broke a story based on their own investigation? On anything?
Frankly, they don’t do much actual journalism when there isn’t a breaking event like a mass shooting. Mostly, they do messaging, gossip-style political infotainment and perception management. Perhaps that’s why they ignored the glaring lede they essentially buried in their headline … the staggering fact that 42 million Americans currently depend upon food stamps.
Forty-two million in a country of 340 million. That means 12.35% of the population needs help feeding themselves and their children. That’s slightly more than one in every ten Americans who might go hungry without government assistance. That number has, per USAFacts.org, held steady since 2021. But here’s where it gets ominous:
The 12.3% of the population receiving SNAP benefits in FY 2023 is more than double the share in FY 2000 when 6.1% of people were recipients. Since 2000, in FY 2013, 15% of the US population received SNAP benefits, the highest share of any year during the program’s history.
The last four years has established a new floor at 12.3%. That’s still only slightly less than 3% off the post-Crash high-water mark in 2013 when 47.6 million people relied on SNAP to put food in their bellies. Like Medicaid, which covers over 70 million people (not to mention the 7.2 million children in the kids-only CHIP program), SNAP benefits appear to be something more than a temporary redoubt for those who need a little time to regroup.
The reporting and the numbers point to a growing, permanent underclass that lives hand-to-mouth, unable to keep pace with both inflation or the tech industry’s greed. Some of them have retreated to vanlife, while others hang on in one of the roadside favelas found in every state. Many more have been sucked into fentanyl addiction after being ameliorated with opioids after the crash, only to have their supply yanked when we finally realized the Sacklers were parasites. Now the country’s encampments are living reminders that 2008 happened and the wrong people were punished for it.
Meanwhile, many of those who managed to get back into a home are paycheck-to-paycheck and paying interest on everything that paycheck doesn’t cover. Per Motley Fool :
Household debt record high: American households carry $18.388 trillion in debt, with mortgage debt comprising 70% of it.
Average debt per household: The average American household debt reached $105,056 in 2024, marking a 13% increase since 2020.
Debt payments and income: In 2025, Americans spend about 11.2% of their income on debt payments, a lower percentage than most of the 2000s.
And now they are about to get slammed by the health insurance industry. Imagine what the last ten years would’ve looked with without the ACA’s subsidies sustaining healthcare for millions of Working and Middle Class families. How many more would’ve turned to emergency rooms or stopped taking expensive medications if the ACA hadn’t expanded coverage to all the nation’s poor? And if both hadn’t been there, the SNAP program would’ve swelled further with needy Americans.
So, if the AI bubble is, in fact, a bubble and it pops … how many more will need government support to eat or get a broken bone set and casted?
That’s why this shutdown may be a small preview of what’s to come if and when the bubble pops and if the Big Beautiful Bill’s austerity is fully enacted. The possibility of those cuts hitting while the market crashes—or even during a steep correction—might break the social welfare system. Perhaps that’s the point. - jp
[BTW: These stories were published within the last 12hrs]
‘Real Distress Out There’: Millions at Risk as SNAP Funds Run Dry
https://news.northeastern.edu/2025/10/27/snap-benefits-food-stamps-government-shutdown/
North Texas families fear hunger, voice outrage as SNAP aid stalls amid shutdown: “It’s just wrong.”
https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/north-texas-snap-benefits-stalls-government-shutdown/
East Texas Food Bank bracing for lapse in SNAP benefits estimated to affect 170,000
https://www.cbs19.tv/article/news/local/etfb-bracing-for-snap-delays/501-e5115c2b-1596-4f06-9382-7b214eba8f30
West Texas Food Bank included in H-E-B’s $5 million donation
https://www.mrt.com/news/article/heb-texas-hunger-relief-21122992.php
DoorDash waiving fees for SNAP recipients in November, delivering food bank donations
https://fox8.com/news/doordash-waiving-fees-for-snap-recipients-in-november-delivering-food-bank-donations/
Food pantries, residents struggle amid pending end to SNAP benefits
https://www.fox19.com/video/2025/10/27/food-pantries-residents-struggle-amid-pending-end-snap-benefits/
How Mainers are stepping up to help neighbors, food pantries ahead of SNAP funding lapse
https://www.pressherald.com/2025/10/27/how-mainers-are-stepping-up-to-to-help-neighbors-food-pantries-ahead-of-snap-funding-lapse/
Food pantries and churches getting ready for families in need
https://www.wltx.com/video/life/food/food-pantries-and-churches-getting-ready-for-families-in-need/101-77d4514f-6e21-4a09-8ab2-f935b6fb0cf5
Federal government says food aid will halt, local food banks pick up slack
https://krdo.com/news/2025/10/27/federal-government-says-food-aid-will-halt-local-food-banks-pick-up-slack/
Local food pantries step up as SNAP benefits dwindle during government shutdown
https://cbs2iowa.com/news/local/local-food-pantries-step-up-as-snap-benefits-dwindle-during-government-shutdown
50% more food needed for next month, says Food Bank among government shutdown
https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/san-antonio-food-bank-donation-preparation-21122286.php
The void left by federal SNAP cuts can’t be filled by food banks
https://www.wfae.org/2025-10-27/the-void-left-by-federal-snap-cuts-cant-be-filled-by-food-banks
Food stamps will stop in Idaho. State advises public to go to food banks
https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article312636965.html
3M Floridians set to miss SNAP benefits in November. ‘Well has run dry,’ USDA says
https://www.pnj.com/story/news/local/2025/10/27/florida-snap-benefits-delayed-november-what-to-do/86930362007/