The Florida state legislature moved this week to allow Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and other officials to hide their travel records from the public.
Continue reading “Florida State House Votes To Hide DeSantis’ Travel Records As He Preps 2024 Announcement”SNAP Work Requirements Don’t Actually Get More People Working. They Just Make It Harder For People To Get Food.
This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis. It was originally published at The Conversation.
The House of Representatives has passed a bill that would cut spending, in part by expanding work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, through which nearly 43 million low-income Americans get help buying groceries. The House bill calls for this policy to apply to adults as old as 55, while today this policy only applies to adults under 50. Some Democrats, in contrast, are seeking to eliminate work requirements altogether.
The bill passed by a 217-215 vote, with all but four Republicans in favor and every Democrat opposed, on April 26, 2023. Tied to a standoff over raising the debt ceiling, the bill would also make Medicaid – the U.S. program that helps low-income and disabled people get health care – contingent on work requirements for some eligible Americans. It’s not clear whether that’s possible, since a federal court has struck down similar measures enacted in some states previously.
Since the Clinton administration, the government has required that at least some people getting SNAP, commonly known as food stamps, do paid work, get job training or volunteer – otherwise they can’t continue receiving benefits. Those requirements were paused in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. They are set to return in July 2023 regardless of the fate of the House bill – which is unlikely to pass in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
I’m a member of a team of economists studying the social safety net and work. Because the rationale for work requirements is that they encourage adults who are able to work to earn more money and become more economically self-sufficient, we wanted to determine whether this policy boosts employment and earnings. We also looked into whether SNAP work requirements lead low-income adults to lose their benefits.
We found that the policy doesn’t make people more likely to find a job or make more money, but it does make Americans who could use help buying groceries less likely to get it.
Tracing a similar case study
Adults with SNAP benefits who are subject to work requirements must document at least 80 hours per month of paid work, job training or volunteering. Otherwise, they can get the benefits for only three months within a three-year period.
Before the pandemic, these rules applied to most so-called “able-bodied” adults without children who were under 50, and that policy will again apply in July. There are some exceptions, such as if the person with benefits is caring for kids younger than 6, has disabilities incompatible with holding a steady job or is in a drug or alcohol rehabilitation program.
To determine this policy’s impact, we studied SNAP, employment and earnings data in Virginia from both the period of the state’s previous suspension of work requirements and afterward.
Virginia, like many other states, suspended work requirements for several years beginning in the Great Recession. During this period, adults could enroll in the program and continue to receive benefits regardless of their employment status.
In October 2013, however, Virginia reinstated work requirements, and they remained in effect in most counties for several years. In those areas, adults under the age of 50 without dependents who were considered able to work needed to either satisfy work requirements or receive an individual exemption to keep their SNAP benefits, while similar adults over the age of 50 did not.
We followed both age groups over time, comparing whether they worked and were getting SNAP benefits both before and after work requirements returned.
No employment boost
By comparing older and younger adults previously getting SNAP benefits, we found that work requirements did not increase employment or earnings 18 months after their reinstatement.
We also detected nearly identical patterns of employment before and after work requirements were reinstated for people in both age groups.
Adults without dependents, whether or not they lost their SNAP benefits to the resumption of work requirements, were earning at most an additional US$28 per month.
Many lost their benefits
But we did find that work requirements dramatically reduced the number of people enrolled in SNAP. Among the adults subject to work requirements once they were restored in 2013, over half lost their benefits because of the policy.
We also found that work requirements disproportionately led people who had faced great economic hardships, such as those without housing or earned income, to lose benefits.
Only 44% of the currently or formerly homeless people getting benefits remained enrolled in SNAP 18 months after work requirements were reinstated, compared with 64% of everyone else, our estimates suggest. Similarly, only 59% of those with no earned income remained enrolled, relative to 73% of those with prior earnings.
Because they are likely to qualify for an individual exemption to work requirements, adults with a history of a disability were more likely to retain benefits compared with others.
Adults kicked out of SNAP because of work requirements typically stood to lose $189 in benefits per month – the most a single person could obtain at the time. It also amounted to about two-thirds of their gross income.
We studied work requirements in Virginia because of the availability of detailed data on both earnings and SNAP benefits.
Although work requirements enforcement varies across states, we believe that our results are likely to be representative of the impacts of this policy, since SNAP recipients in Virginia look similar to nationwide averages on most demographic characteristics except race.
Our findings do suggest that work requirements restrain federal spending by reducing the number of people getting SNAP benefits.
But our work also indicates that in today’s context, these savings would be at the expense of already vulnerable people facing additional economic hardship at a time when a new recession could be around the corner.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Elon Musk Threatens To Assign NPR’s Official Twitter Account To ‘Another Company’
Newly minted Twitter CEO Elon Musk threatened to reassign National Public Radio’s official account — which uses the @NPR handle — to “another company” on Tuesday, weeks after the non-profit media organization announced it will no longer post content on Twitter.
Continue reading “Elon Musk Threatens To Assign NPR’s Official Twitter Account To ‘Another Company’”Somnambulant Fox Board Shocked To Discover Tucker Carlson’s Racism!
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo.
‘It’s Not How White Men Fight’
What to make of the latest Tucker Carlson revelation, a Jan. 7, 2021 text showing him in full racist froth over the beating of a Antifa protestor in DC?
We are to believe, based on the NYT reporting, that this Carlson text “set off a panic at the highest levels of Fox.” Coming as it did on the eve of the scheduled trial of the Dominion defamation case against Fox, we can perhaps attribute some of the so-called panic to the timing. Perhaps.
But after years of Carlson going on the air every weeknight to espouse white nationalism, foment racial hatred, and demean people of color with racist tropes and stereotypes, we’re supposed to accept that the Fox board somehow came to its senses when confronted with a single 18-month-old text?
The key part of the text (emphasis mine):
A group of Trump guys surrounded an Antifa kid and started pounding the living shit out of him. It was three against one, at least. Jumping a guy like that is dishonorable obviously. It’s not how white men fight.
To be fair, the NYT story couches the text not as a smoking gun per se, but reports that it “contributed to a chain of events that ultimately led to Mr. Carlson’s firing.” That leaves a fair bit for interpretation of how much the text contributed and what other things also contributed to the firing.
There’s also this bit of new reporting from the WaPo which seems relevant:
After seeing the message, the board alerted Fox executives that it planned to retain a law firm to investigate Carlson’s behavior, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive discussions.
We’re not in a position to know, with so many of the Carlson internal communications either still private or redacted in court documents, what combination of revelations or notifications to the board prompted it to act finally. But it’s simply way too credulous to pretend this text somehow represents a greater display of racism from Carlson than he displayed on air in front of million of viewers night after night for years, in plain view of the Fox board.
Scavino Sighting At DC Federal Courthouse
Trump Won’t Testify In Carroll Trial
Donald Trump will not testify in his own defense in the E. Jean Carroll trial. Trump’s team may still decide to do a videotaped deposition of Trump in the case at trial.
The jury may get the case as soon as this week, but not before Carroll’s team plays the Access Hollywood tape for them.
Proud Boys Jury Signals Deadlock
In the Proud Boys seditious conspiracy trial, a couple of new jury notes Tuesday suggested that it is being diligent and may be deadlocked on at least one of the charges.
Ex-FBI Supervisor Arrested On Jan. 6 Charges
A former FBI supervisory special agent was arrested in Oregon this week in connection with the Jan. 6 attack and accused of encouraging rioters to kill police officers protecting the Capitol:
“I’m former—I’m former law enforcement. You’re disgusting. You are the Nazi. You are the Gestapo. You can’t see it. … Shame on you! Shame on you! Shame on you!” federal authorities say he told officers before he entered the Capitol. “Yeah, f— them! Yeah, kill ’em! Kill ’em! Kill ’em! Kill ’em!”
Notable
A Big Lie-touting elections official in Michigan has been voted out in a recall election in conservative Hillsdale County.
Zooey Zephyr Loses In Court
A state court declined to intervene on behalf of transgender state Rep. Zooey Zephyr after the GOP-controlled House banned her from the floor of the chamber for the rest of the current session:
Judge Mike Menahan, who served in the House as a Democrat before being elected to the state’s First District Court a decade ago, said in a five-page order issued late Tuesday that he did not have the authority to intervene in the legislative dispute.
The current session ends Friday.
Where Things Stand On The Debt Ceiling
- House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) started the long-shot process of using a “discharge petition” to force a vote on a clean debt ceiling increase.
- One way out of this seeming logjam – with the Speaker of the House taking the world economy hostage and the President refusing to deal with terrorists – has been obvious all along: Each of them asserts that a final package consisting of some spending cuts and a debt ceiling hike to be true to their own values, declares victory and walks away. We’ll see.
Noted
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) is pressing charges against a woman who allegedly threw a glass of wine at him over the weekend back home in Florida.
Ethics Rules For SCOTUS? Gasp!
Senate Judiciary Democrats tried to make a go of elevating the Clarence Thomas scandal and other recent SCOTUS revelations. TPM’s Kate Riga was there.
One highlight of the hearing was former Attorney General Michael Mukasey being 100% on brand:
Feinstein Could be Back Next Week
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) could return to DC as soon as next week, according to … notes Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) was holding that reporters spied.
(My own read, since these were notes Schumer prepared for a press conference, is that “We are both hopeful she can return next week” is buying time.)
Nice Little Public Radio Network You Got There …
After NPR stopped using Twitter, Elon Musk emailed an NPR reporter the following threat: “So is NPR going to start posting on Twitter again, or should we reassign @NPR to another company?”
Abortion Rights Alert
- North Carolina: After months of closed-door deliberations, statehouse Republicans unveiled a new proposal for a 12-week abortion ban. In a sign of the evolving politics of abortion rights post-Dobbs, the ban is being pitched by Republican women lawmakers as a less-harsh compromise than stricter bans in other Southern states.
- Utah: A state judge put on hold a first-in-the-nation ban on abortion clinics.
More Jeffrey Epstein Reveals
The WSJ is out with its second installment based on a trove of Jeffrey Epstein documents: “Dinners With Lawrence Summers and Movie Screenings With Woody Allen“
2024 Is Gonna Be One LONG Cycle
…Just take a look at this promo video for the town hall. Looks more like a time capsule from 2015 than, for example, anything presenting even remote awareness of every scandal and crime Trump is implicated in.https://t.co/lplkj7ICP6
— Prem (@prem_thakker) May 2, 2023
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Dems Are Furious About A Conservative Trick To Game The Courts. Is There A Path To A Legislative Fix?
Democrats are more likely than ever to harshly criticize judge shopping, the practice where almost exclusively right-wing litigants seek out court divisions with one or two Donald Trump appointees who they can count on for a favorable decision.
Continue reading “Dems Are Furious About A Conservative Trick To Game The Courts. Is There A Path To A Legislative Fix?”Where Things Stand: Pour One Out In Matt Gaetz’ Direction
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) is crying, and pressing charges, over spilled milk.
Or wine, in this case.
Continue reading “Where Things Stand: Pour One Out In Matt Gaetz’ Direction”Biden Shares A Cheeky Chart To Help House GOP See Their Debt Ceiling Bill Does Propose VA Cuts
President Joe Biden stepped up to the House GOP on Tuesday, posting a chart on Twitter sarcastically emphasizing that the debt ceiling bill Republicans narrowly passed last week will hurt veterans’ benefits.
Continue reading “Biden Shares A Cheeky Chart To Help House GOP See Their Debt Ceiling Bill Does Propose VA Cuts”Important Nitty Gritty in the Debt Default Follies
As we hurtle toward the entirely House-GOP-created debt ceiling crisis, I wanted to address some issues which are technical but also really important to understanding how this story can play out and what’s involved.
What exactly happens when the debt limit is hit?
Good question. Indeed, that’s the question. The U.S. government brings in a ton of money every month. Just not enough to pay all the obligations that it is bound to pay by statute law. So really there’s no reason that the U.S. government can’t continue to cover the principal and interest on its debt obligations from now until the end of time without ever having to borrow more money. There’s plenty of money. But other things will have to go unpaid.
Continue reading “Important Nitty Gritty in the Debt Default Follies”Supreme Court Ethics Reform Gets A Look In Senate Hearing
The Senate Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing today on ethics reform for the Supreme Court after a string of news reports documenting various cozy financial entanglements between right-wing justices and powerful figures in the conservative world.
Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin (D-IL) has been somewhat less than lightning fast in trying to address the issue substantively or to capitalize on it politically. But today is a small step in that direction.
Durbin had invited Chief Justice John Roberts — or a justice of his choice — to testify. Roberts declined.
Deadbeat Alert! Rudy Says He Can’t Afford To Search Own Records
Debts appear to be mounting for Rudy Giuliani, as two judges over recent weeks have heard claims that the Trump attorney can’t pay his bills.
Continue reading “Deadbeat Alert! Rudy Says He Can’t Afford To Search Own Records”