GOP’s SNAP game is a cynical ploy

It’s a damn shame that Iowans can’t eat tax cuts.

It’s massive tax cuts at the federal level that led us to a government shutdown. Republicans decided to erase subsidies that help millions of Americans afford health coverage through the Affordable Care Act. Affording tax cuts is more critical.

Democrats are demanding restoration of those subsidies be part of any deal to fund the government. Republicans have refused, so the government closed shop.

No, it’s not about Democrats seeking benefits for undocumented immigrants. I really don’t have to tell you that because you’re smarter than a fence post.

So, the Trump administration decided to turn up the pain by cutting off all funding to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP. Congress appropriated $4.6 billion in emergency funding, but Trump declined to tap those bucks.

Two federal judges have ruled Trump has to use that money to provide at least partial benefits. So, Trump is using half, although we don’t know when those funds will start showing up on SNAP EBT cards.

Gov. Kim Reynolds has pledged $1 million in state funds to match donations to local food banks. Seriously, people should give, if they can.

Iowa gets about $45 million each month to provide SNAP benefits to 130,000 households. Many of them include children, elderly and disabled Iowans. More than half of recipients work.

But Iowa also has approved billions of dollars in tax cuts in recent years, apparently leaving the state unable to do anything more meaningful for hungry Iowans. Revenues are cliff diving. That $1 million isn’t nothing, but it’s inadequate to deal with the crisis at hand.

This is the same governor who would not apply for additional federal summer food help for kids, delivered through a simple monthly EBT transfer. Reynolds insisted their families wouldn’t buy nutritious food. Instead, she created a program that provides pre-packed boxes of food for pick up at various locations.

The governor knows best. Sorry if getting to the locations where those boxes are distributed is difficult. The one thing needy Iowans really need is more difficulties.

Let them eat cake, but no candy or pop.

But now the governor is concerned about SNAP families, mostly because it gives her a chance to blast Democrats. When she turned down summer food assistance, it gave her a chance to blast Joe Biden. There seems to be a pattern.

This is all Democrats’ fault. If they would just let Republicans wreck Americans’ health coverage, Trump would let the poor eat. He’s such a benevolent monarch.

So, while well-off people enjoy tax cuts large enough to fill train cars with prime beef, struggling folks can forage for their next meal. This is our Golden Age.

America first! But a lot of Americans are finding out how it feels to be last.

In a country where cynical trolling passes for governing, this is among the most cynical ploys unleashed by Republicans and our president. Is there a Nobel Prize for callous indifference?

Hopefully, a deal can be struck to at least temporarily keep ACA subsidies and open up the government. Then we can look forward to massive cuts to Medicaid and food assistance approved by Republicans over the next decade. But, for heaven’s sake, we’re all going to die. No need to worry.

Soon, it will be the season of giving. God bless us, but not every one.

(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com