In a perfect world, we would measure our governments by how much they do for their people. Unfortunately, after a few thousand years of the people getting shafted by whomever is in charge, we just don’t hit back on the men at the top as much as we should.
Centuries of feudalism and monarchies have paved the way for the slew of cost-reducing orders is one that aims to pause all federal grants and loans, effectively snatching food right out of children’s mouths across the country.
Never fear, Republicans have the perfect answer to the unease the decision has caused — those lazy kids just need to pay for lunch themselves.
To be fair, in the hours since the news was released, even the White House seems to be confused about what exactly pausing “all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance” would do. Though the order excluded Social Security, Medicare benefits, and “assistance provided directly to individuals,” private and public sectors that rely on assistance were awash with immediate concern.
Not to worry, however; it’s not about the kids, but rather the Democrats. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says it’s “not a blanket pause on federal assistance and grant programs” but is rather geared towards Democratic priorities rather than across-the-board cuts.
Her words of comfort are worth less than garbage for the 1 in 5 children who rely on school lunches for a daily meal. America spends just under $6 billion a year on school meals, and the proposed cuts would remove half of that from the budget. According to Politico, the new rules would change qualifications for schools in low-income districts that qualify for Community Eligibility Provisions from 40% to 60%, essentially saying a district has to be poor poor before the government will do anything to help kids.
After the cuts were announced, OhioCapitalJournalism reported that in Ohio alone, the measure would bar nearly 300,000 kids from school lunches that they desperately need. According to FRAC senior child nutrition policy analyst Erin Hysom and interim child nutrition programs and policy director Alexis Bylander, the new proposal would keep 24,000 schools and 12 million children from essential meals.
When asked about it, Senator Rich McCormick suggested that kids should work their way through high school, truly highlighting the Right’s recent obsession with rolling back child labor law protections. Children shouldn’t have to work to eat, not in the richest country in the world. Their earned money should go to clothes, video games, or whatever nonsense they might want, not toward keeping themselves and their siblings fed.
It’s Republican hypocrisy on full display. They insist that life begins at egg fertilization, force young women to carry their pregnancies to term and give birth against their will, and then leave those children to starve rather than find the budget to help keep them fed and ready to learn. When will Americans finally tire of “feel-good stories” that involve one child paying off another’s lunch debt?
Instead of congratulating the orphans for shutting down the Orphan Crushing Machine, why don’t we question why such a thing exists in the first place?
Better yet, why are we questioning taking care of the country’s youth when it’s been Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, wouldn’t jump on the chance to fix the problem— even after he asked for and was presented with a plan to end child hunger globally for 6 billion dollars.
Instead, he did what all of these rich S.O.B.s do: he got the praise and then dumped that money into his own foundation. And soon enough, Trump’s istration will do the same.
Published: Jan 28, 2025 05:28 pm