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After the White House and Congressional Republicans reached a tentative deal on the debt ceiling, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy continued: fox news sunday To brag that they are putting distressed Americans to work to keep food aid coming.
Although exact details have not been released, the deal would raise the maximum age at which adults must work to receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) food stamps from 50 to 54. However, there are exceptions for veterans and homeless individuals. , and those who have dependents. The deal also includes changes to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), but details have not been made public.
“We finally got to cut spending. We were the first Congress to vote for spending cuts,” McCarthy boasted on FOX Sunday. “So you cut it back. You fully fund veterans. You fully fund defense. We got working requirements for TANF and SNAP, which Democrats argued was a red line.”
At another point in the interview, McCarthy claimed that “we’re going to make America work again” and that the deal included “work requirements to get people out of poverty and into jobs.” claimed. In response, host Shannon Bream countered McCarthy by arguing that labor requirements were not tough enough for the most radical members of the Republican caucus.
“The White House, that’s where they celebrate,” Bream said of the job requirements. “They say there is no change to Medicaid. There are expansions…and the changes you get raise age, requirements, etc., but they sink in. So they don’t last very long.”
However, it should be noted that the majority of Americans work. The unemployment rate remained at an extremely low level of 3.4% as of April this year.
McCarthy also boasted of cutting funding to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). “This is the biggest decision in American history,” McCarthy said. “You can add up all Congressional statements in all other Congresses. We will no longer transfer $400 million of US taxpayer money to China.”
According to the CDC, the World Health Fund supports HIV/AIDS prevention and care, immunization, and disease detection and emergency response worldwide. Cuts to this funding seem risky in the immediate aftermath of a global pandemic, but given the response to COVID-19, it’s no wonder Republicans in Congress aren’t taking global health seriously.
Returning to work requirements, McCarthy said: “At the end of the day, what does Work Requirement do? Only able-bodied people with no dependents. Every single study shows that doing so helps people get to work, and when they work, what happens? More people are paying for Medicare.”
Sure, you could ‘save’ money on food aid, but at what cost?