Big and beautiful in the eye of the beholder
As Donald Trump, speaker’s gavel in hand, basks in the glow of having pressured his GOP caucus to sit, roll over, and pass his bigly bill by July 4th, food banks are bracing for impact (Politico):
Food banks say they are wholly unprepared to feed millions of Americans when Republicans’ cuts to traditional federal safety net programs take effect.
The GOP’s megabill slashes more than $1 trillion from the nation’s largest food aid program and Medicaid, with some of the cuts taking effect as early as this year. Low-income people grappling with higher costs of living could be forced to turn to emergency food assistance.
In preparation, food bank leaders are trying to convince private foundations and state leaders to give them more money. Some states like Minnesota and Pennsylvania have already been weighing shifting additional resources to emergency food programs or standing up new initiatives to counter the loss of federal dollars.
In preparation, food bank leaders are trying to convince private foundations and state leaders to give them more money. Some states like Minnesota and Pennsylvania have already been weighing shifting additional resources to emergency food programs or standing up new initiatives to counter the loss of federal dollars.
That still won’t be enough.
One Bluesky commenter notes, “The way we’ve traditionally dealt with doctor shortages is by giving foreign doctors residency and a pathway to citizenship in exchange for working in rural hospitals. We’re killing both pathways to having doctors.”
On top of that, reports Time, a cut to the provider tax from 6% to 3.5% in coming years means that families who rely on hospital emergency departments “when a fever spikes or a bone breaks” will face “dramatically longer waits, overwhelmed doctors, and a system pushed to the brink.”
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