Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Catholic
The Government Shutdown and how it’s Hurting the Vulnerable

The Government Shutdown and how it’s Hurting the Vulnerable

Last updated on: January 15, 2019 at 1:12 am by Mary Pezzulo

The Government Shutdown and how it’s Hurting the Vulnerable 2019-01-15T01:12:32-04:00 Mary Pezzulo

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I want to take a moment to talk again about the government shutdown, how it’s hurting the vulnerable, and what we can do to help.

It is very important to remember, first of all, that this simply isn’t a terrible accident resulting from the House and Senate not being able to agree. At this point, it’s deliberate posturing using our national parks, food-insecure citizens and thousands of government workers as pawns. Senate Majority Leader McConnell endorsed a government funding bill that did not fund the president’s wall back in December, but now that Democrats have a majority in the House he’s suddenly refusing to consider any such bill. Senator Graham, of all people, begged the president to accept even a stopgap bill that would reopen part of the government, but the president would not have it. The majority of Americans have said they do not want the multi-billion dollar border wall, without funding for which the president says he will not re-open the government even for “months or years.” What we are witnessing right now is a demonstration of how far the president and his yes-men are willing to go to assert dominance over everybody else.

The biggest new announcement is that the USDA is awarding February Supplemental Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits early, in January. Come February the program will have nothing. If you have an EBT card, you’ll get your February EBT benefits in January instead of whenever in February you usually would, and then you’ll get no more until at least March. Depending on when the shutdown ends, there may be no more for a long time. The exact date that February EBT money will appear on your card is varying a bit from state to state; it will be on or before the 20th of January here in Ohio.

For people who don’t know very much about the SNAP program, I want to stress that this is not a negligible amount of aid that is going to disappear– and, as if threatening the hungry weren’t enough, SNAP recipients are not the only people who are going to suffer because of this. SNAP benefits pay for about 10% of the groceries bought in this country. That’s 10% of the nation’s grocery money, suddenly not being available come February and for an indefinite period thereafter. People tend to act as if a social safety net for the poor is simply bad for the economy, but actually suddenly decimating the nation’s budget for spending at local supermarkets is probably going to wreak havoc. Remember, you can’t spend SNAP on Amazon Grocery or the like, and you can’t spend it on anything but food. You have to spend it in person, on cold food items only– you can’t get a hot meal at a deli counter with it, for example, but you might be able to get one of the day-old Rotisserie chickens that have been put in the cooler. If you’re buying twenty dollars’ worth of food and also five dollars’ worth of toilet paper and toothpaste, that EBT card will pay for the food and you’ll have to pay for the other items in cash. That EBT payment goes into the grocery store’s till the same as the cash does and the store gets the full twenty-five. SNAP disappearing means grocery stores will lose 10% of their income. Jeff Bezos is not going to feel the effects of this. The manager of your local supermarket will. His employees will. Their families will. Chain stores already considering pulling out of a location and making a new food desert will. Eventually, the whole economy will. But of more immediate importance is that a huge number of hard-working families will suddenly have to go hungry come February.

Those of you who want to help: I usually tell people that the best time to give to food banks and check up on your low-income friends, is at the end of the month and right at the beginning before paychecks come in and the EBT benefits reload. SNAP benefits are not meant to last all month in the first place; that’s why they’re called “supplemental.” Despite most people’s best efforts to shop wisely and be careful– and, despite what you might have heard, SNAP recipients are usually very careful– SNAP benefits tend to last about two weeks. So the need is going to set in in the middle of February and it’s likely to get worse from there.

If you want to make a donation to a food pantry, soup kitchen or the like, the best donation is usually cash. Then someone who works there can shop for the specific items they most need. If you’re going to donate food, remember that there’s usually a great need for shelf-stable proteins like canned beans, canned fish and shelf-stable milk. Donate cooking oil, condiments and seasonings, so people can actually make edible meals out of the other items they’re provided. Donate low-sodium canned vegetables and canned fruit packed in its own juice because it’s healthier; shelf-stable juices to drink are also very useful for the vitamins, but make sure it’s real juice and not corn syrup. Donate wholesome snacks like granola bars. If the place you’re giving to accepts fresh food, give them fresh fruits and vegetables. Obviously, don’t give anything that’s expired, damaged or recalled.

In addition to the situation with SNAP, the shutdown has already led to a large number of government workers collecting a paycheck of zero dollars. Members of the Coast Gaurd, for example, have to show up for work whether they get paid or not or they will be considered AWOL, and they got no pay this month. And they are not typically paid well enough to have emergency money put away in the first place. My friend whose husband recently retired from the Coast Guard encourages everyone to sign this petition and if you know someone in the Coast Guard, see how they’re doing and offer to help with groceries and utility bills if you can.

If you happen to be at an airport, members of the TSA aren’t getting paid either. I saw a post on the author Mary Doria Russell’s facebook page that said they can’t accept cash gifts of any kind but can accept gift cards to eateries at the airport. They can use these for lunch, and have a little more money left to feed their families at home.

Also remember that our national parks are being trashed. I’ve read stories about groups of people organizing to volunteer to clean them. Maybe you and your friends can help as well.

It is ridiculous and enraging that we are in this situation in the first place, and who is to blame is clearly visible. But since we can’t make it go away ourselves, it’s important to look around for any way we can help support the vulnerable and care for our community. We don’t choose the times we live in, but we have a certain amount of choice on what to do. What we ought to do, is try to have a positive impact.

(image via Pixabay)

Previous Post

January 14, 2019

They Had Heard No Thunder

Next Post

January 15, 2019 Let Them Eat Hamberders!

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category abortion Abuse Advent America American Christianity angel angels Annunciation Appalachia apparition apparition chaser apparition chasers apparition culture art art review babies baby baby Jesus Bad Lip Reading bad statue contest bath beauty Bible story blog blogkeeping blood book review Brandon Sanderson breastfeeding bus Catholic catholic conspiracy alarmism Catholic Oppositional Disorder Charismatic Renewal Charlie the Cat chastity Christ Christian idenitity Christianity and Judaism Chronic Illness clean clothing COD piece comedy compassion conscience conspiracy theory conversion cop-on-black violence Crucifixion cry of the poor culture Daesh Daily Saints death death penalty devotional diaconate diaper diapers dirty disability Donald Trump Dorothy Day dream drugs Eastern Catholicism Eastern Christianity education election election update Elsewhere on Patheos empathy environment Fear feminism film review fish flashback fluffy buns food Franciscan University of Steubenville Friendship Room fun Gabriel gardening gospel hair-splitting Heaven hell heresy Hillary Clinton history Holly the Witch Holy Spirit holy war Homeschooling homosexuality horror human dignity humor Icon idol immigrants infection inter-religious dialogue Interpretation of Scripture Islam Jesus Jihad Joseph joy laity and lay vocations lamb dinner laundry lent lgbtq literature love manners Mary Medicine and Science Meditation mercy mess milk misogyny Missouri monasticism monster motherhood mourn with those mourn movies movis music mystery nature neurodiversity New Pro-Life Movement news nonsense nostalgia O antiphons obituary objectification Ohio Valley Ordinary Time ordination Ordo Amoris parable paradox Passover peanut butter personal beliefs pets philosophy Planet Charismatic poetry politics polls poop Pope Francis Pope Leo power in the Church prayer prayer request prayers preferential option for non-violence president presidential election priest primary private revelation pro-life prophecy Public face of Catholicism Pure Flix Q and A race racism random rape rape. sexuality reader's request Reckoners refugee religious trauma ressurrection Right to life Saints saints and celebrations same-sex same-sex marriage satire scandal secular feasts seder Seven Joys Seven Last Words sex sexual ethics sexuality silencing six months skid row slavery social justice Speculative fiction spiritual abuse spoon stain story suffering suffrage suffragette Sunday Gospel temple Tenebrae Responsories Terror the exorcist The Friendship Room The New Pro-Life Movement Things I Learned on the Internet tin cup traffic true story tv review Uncategorized USCCB vice and temptation violence Virtue virtue and vice war Way of the Cross whimsy whole life women's ordination work of mercy Year A

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What teaching is behind Jesus washing his disciples' feet?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Never serve Serve others Seek power Rule over them