Oh SNAP!

SNAP (EBT, Food stamps) is set to end tomorrow.  Congress has failed to fund it, along with lots of other stuff the missing budget would have covered. They also failed to pay soldiers, ATC staff, park rangers, and about a million other folks who took government jobs.  Note.... Congress did NOT fail to pay itself. 

A few points to consider:

• There have been fourteen votes held to pass a CR (Continuing resolution) that would keep the money going out at exactly the terms of the last budget.  No change at all. Traditionally this is done for a short period to allow negotiation over the budget. 
• There is currently a filibuster in use by the Senate Democrats over the CR bill.  It takes 60 votes to end a filibuster and pass the bill.  On all fourteen votes, the Republicans have voted as a block to end the filibuster, pass the CR, and get people paid, and the Democrats have voted as a block to.. well.. keep the filibuster and block the continuing  resolution. 
• It takes 60 votes to end the filibuster, but the Republicans have only 53 senators at this time.  There must be Democrat votes to end the filibuster, or they could just end it at any time they wish.  It's their filibuster.
• Democrats want the president to wipe out the SNAP contingency fund (Heavily under-funded, and always has been).  This fund has enough money to run SNAP for roughly 20 days, and then its gone.  The USDA under Trump says their regulations state the fund is for 'Unanticipated' shortfalls.  This congressional budget failure is anything but unanticipated.  The Democrat leaders have made it clear they are using citizens pain as 'leverage'.  Their is no doubt this regular and repetitive 'shut down' tactic is designed into the process at this point.  
• Democrat leaders are demanding a huge increase in spending for their pet projects in the new budget, and they are obviously and admittedly using the shut-down as leverage to get what they want.  In effect, they are holding millions of US citizens hostage. 
• A private citizen donated enough money to cover the military payroll for one pay period.  Trump has also used discretionary defense department funds to cover military payrolls.   Nobody has volunteered to donate anything to cover SNAP payouts, and the Dept of Agriculture does not have the discretionary funds to cover SNAP, outside the contingency fund already mentioned.

• To sum up: Democrat leadership is filibustering a budget continuing resolution, and demanding roughly 1.5 trillion in new spending in the new budget before they will allow the government to pay SNAP benefits, military payroll, etc.
• There have been fourteen votes to end the filibuster and get government money flowing, and fourteen times the Dems have block-voted against it.
• Senate Democrats can end this and start the money flowing at any time.  They need only end their filibuster, or have a handful of senators vote for the people rather than their party leaders plan.
• Once there is a CR in place, negotiations, discussions, and deliberations regarding the budget can take place.   (I will submit the Democrat leadership chose this bad faith shut-down blackmail as a means of getting massive spending increases without having to open their demands to public scrutiny, and they failed).

To end, here is a fun little detail.  At the beginning of this I mentioned Congress still sees fit to pay themselves without fail.  Cool fact... total congressional monthly compensation is almost exactly the same as the SNAP money going out to 40,000,000 people monthly.