Will Poor Whites Still Support Trump If Food Stamps Are Cut?

[StarfishSaver]

Will Poor Whites Still Support Trump If Food Stamps Are Cut?

One of Trump‘s most loyal voting blocs are non-college-educated whites and blue collar whites, many who live in poverty and require public assistance. With whites being the largest group to receive social services, like food stamps, will this change now that the Trump administration has a drastic plan to slash food stamps? ...

Yahoo reports, “New rules proposed by the Department of Agriculture (USDA) would see stricter work requirements for food stamp eligibility, and change the way 40 states enroll families into the program, officially called Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).” ...

Approximately 20 million households need food stamps and even with the help of SNAP many families still struggle to put food on the table. There are more white people who are assisted by federal assistance programs than any other demographic in the United States, but it remains to be seen if taking food off their plate will make them change their minds as voters. A study from 2018 found that Trump’s support among non-college-educated whites was one of the main reasons he won in 2016. However, it was more about racism than their own pockets, especially since Obama saved our own economy ...

Iowa State University sociologists Ann Oberhauser, Daniel Krier, and Abdi Kusow explained, “Economic distress is not a significant factor in explaining the shift in Iowa voters from Democrat to Republican between 2008 and 2016. The election outcomes do not signify [a revolt] among working-class voters left behind by globalization.” ...

Yep, even losing social services may not shift votes. As Trump said, “I love the poorly educated.”

https://newsone.com/3895306/poor-whites-trump-food-stamps/

[walkingman]

1. Hopefully they won't but I doubt they will connect it to Trump. Also people have voted against their

own interests for decades. If they were informed or quit watching Fox then they might understand but I think FOX and reality tv are probably their preferences.

[dewsgirl]

5. They'll find a way to spin it.😔

[Blue_true]

17. They will blame immigrants for illegally getting what should be theirs. nt

[dewsgirl]

18. Likely.😔

[treestar]

66. Yes this.

[LonePirate]

2. As long he remains openly racist, they will never leave his side.

[MarcA]

3. Agreed. To paraphrase LBJ's alleged remark,

if he tells some of them that they are better than those "others" whose benefits
he is also cutting they will Give him their food stamps.

[gratuitous]

13. Absolutely

They'll gladly and proudly starve to death in the street because they're 100% convinced that any day now they'll be joining the ranks of the ultra-wealthy. Ronald Wright described them as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.

[hibbing]

36. Agree n/t

[Raftergirl]

64. Yep

It’s why they go all in on cutting taxes, too. They believe that some day they too will have many millions they need to shelter.

[Andy823]

4. Well they would just

blame it on Obama. Everything that trump does to make their lives worse get blamed on Obama so they won't change now. Needless to say most of them are not to bright.

[Midnight Writer]

30. Exactly. Recall the blather about Obama being "The Food Stamp President".

Since the Bush recession in 2008 started just before Obama took office, folks were loosing jobs and going on assistance at a blistering pace. The Right Wing blamed it all on Obama, even thought the crash occurred before he took office.

[librechik]

6. You would think all Christians would be upset about it.

but what do I know?

[KentuckyWoman]

41. It baffles me beyond all reason.

I have zero understanding how the evangelical right thinks Don is chosen by God. Every single thing about him is the opposite of anything Jesus stood for

[Collimator]

7. Having someone to feel superior to. . .

. . . fills a void inside of them greater than their stomachs.

Even if they lose their benefits they will believe it is because of all those "others" who are lazy and abuse the system. They and their kind deserve help as far as they are concerned, because they are the "good" people.

[Wellstone ruled]

15. You are so right.

As some one who worked a part time job with the County Social Service Agency. Heard it all,and that was in the middle eighties . Some of the crap people believe is more than off the wall. I think some of the worst was when new Applicants did not get a couple hundred Dollars handed to them immediately,and their commentary was pure ugly and accused me as why they did not get their cash. Sorry folks,the rules are these and if you need emergency food or housing needs,you need take your paperwork to so and so in the office across the hall,I am just the Intake screener on duty today.

[33taw]

8. Will the farmers?

The republican voter also like their guns.

[JCMach1]

9. Simple answer, YES...

Last edited Fri Dec 6, 2019, 01:13 AM - Edit history (1)

They will still think those 'OTHER' people are getting more...

[Wellstone ruled]

20. Have to add this,

if you live in the State of Wisconsin,well if you are single and disabled,holy smokies,you get $16 a month,wow. Have a sibling stuck in this box. Yes he gets his housing paid by HUD and because of the lousy Social Security Disability payment per month,most of his payment goes for his Meds.

[MrScorpio]

10. Yes, they will

Without a doubt.

[atreides1]

11. Yes!!!

If he takes away their access to food stamps and feeds them hot asphalt, I believe that the majority would still vote for him...

Because they hate everything about the Democrats, even more then they love their own children...

[Boomerproud]

24. Yes. The Democratic brand has been so damaged

In the last 30 years, mainly by indoctrination by RW media. I don't see the light at the end of the tunnel.

[Historic NY]

12. They'd eat shit sandwiches if he told them it was health food.

[magicarpet]

14. Certainly,... if blacks and browns get a much worse deal than white folks.

Even though poor while people get shafted they will be happy as clams and worship trDump even more if he shafted the darkies worse.

No, low, or Fascist Christian education is music to trDump's ears. The only thing you need to teach them,.... is teach them to hate.

[SummerSnow]

35. So sacrifice some white people to get more black and brown people? Wow..

do they really feel like that, that's scary?

[Blue_true]

16. Yes.

As long as they keep their guns and the war on Christmas is won. I live near some of those people, their worldview is really fucked up at times.

[Docreed2003]

19. Yes they will

They will blame Dems and anyone else they can but not Trump. I'm sure many will stick with him because of blatant bigotry but it much bigger than that. Many of these voters are just too uneducated and too indoctrinated into their bubbles and churches and communities that they can't see or accept what the real issue is that's causing their struggles to begin with.

[Codeine]

21. You can't logic someone out of a position

they didn’t logic themselves into.

[Cicada]

22. Fine print: republicans exempt from cuts. Really.

The work requirement may be waived by local governor for areas with an unemployment rate of at least 6% which exceeds the national rate by more than 20% for 24 months. Rural areas often meet that standard, where Republican voters typically live. But the unemployed in urban areas, typically democrats, are surrounded by low unemployment districts so they will not meet the exemption standards. Few White Republicans will lose food stamps because of the work requirement.

[StarfishSaver]

23. From what I've read, this will still hit rural residents very hard

The sting will be widespread. Thirty-six states—led by Democratic and Republican governors alike—currently have waivers in place for SNAP time limits in place for areas where unemployment is high. But the impact of the new rule will vary widely from state to state. In Kentucky, for example, Wheaton estimates that 62 percent of the state’s low-income population lives in waived areas (as of 2018). Under the new rule, that share could fall by two-thirds. Some states struggling with high unemployment have statewide waivers in place, among them California, Louisiana, and New Mexico. Now, such statewide waivers are out; in some of those places, high overall unemployment fails to register at the small labor market area level. In Rhode Island and Nevada, the share of the state’s low-income population living in waiver-eligible areas would have fallen to 8 percent and 5 percent, respectively, had the rule been in place in 2018. “Some of the states just lose a lot of their access to waivers,” Wheaton says.

Moreover, states must rely on historical unemployment data, which means that in the event of a sudden economic downturn, areas may not qualify for SNAP time-limit waivers until months after the fact, according to Robert Greenstein, president for the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Under the new rule, an area can qualify for a waiver if the average unemployment rate over a 24-month period has been A) 20 percent higher than the national average over the same period and B) at least 6 percent.

“Far fewer areas will qualify for waivers during a widespread, national recession,” Greenstein writes. “A state with spiking unemployment reaching levels as high as 9 percent would not qualify for a waiver if national unemployment were also high, such as at 8 percent. This will limit a core strength of SNAP—its responsiveness to changes in economic conditions so that individuals who lose their source of income can quickly qualify for temporary food assistance.”

Overall, the effects of the new regulation will fall hardest on people of color, people without higher education, and people living in rural areas.
https://www.citylab.com/equity/2019/12/food-stamp-cuts-snap-trump-administration-usda-rule/602986/

[Cicada]

40. Thanks for your awesome response

[Withywindle]

57. Excellent info, thank you!

And from what I've read it's even worse than this for rural folks in economically depressed areas, that you're not allowed to own more than a few thousand in assets - and that includes cars. So if you own a shitty used car that's worth more than about 2 or 3k you have to give it up - which means you can no longer drive to work even if you do manage to find a job.

Many rural poor in the US live in areas where there is no public transportation of any kind and even the nearest McDonald's might be 20 miles away.

[pnwmom]

25. Many of them are probably homeless or otherwise too stressed to vote. nt

[SterlingPound]

26. they already know that all the worlds ills only fall upon them

so they will never notice all the other idiot crackers

stuck eating crackers

Just like them.

[cornball 24]

27. There are rural trumpers who depend on food stamps that refer to it as "relief" thus separating

themselves from the urban "other" who rely on food stamps.

[Garrett78]

28. Of course.

Because economic anxiety didn't have a damn thing to do with why people voted for him.

[liberal N proud]

29. They have been indoctrinated into the cult

FOX has done the trump klan well.

[Doodley]

31. Yes, because Trump is still a racist, and in their eyes anything that

doesn't go right is because of the Democrats or the deep state that Trump keeps talking about.

[drray23]

32. without a doubt, a large fraction will

Ive read that the bankrupcy rate for farmers is up 24 % due to Trump's tariffs. Yet they still support him all the way to bankrupcy court.

[lunasun]

33. Yes Unfortunately it is the price to pay for no Mexicans or Muslims + gun freedom

When your country is being invaded there will be sacrifices

plus it hurts poor POC not just them and with trumpers that usually gives them a big tingle of satisfaction

Oh and fake news that whites receive the most services like food stamps his base will tell you . They do not identify with it as the system’s main benefactor even if they have been eligible and using it so I don’t think they will come out and fight for it or protest the cuts or not vote trump again .
They are a pretty loyal base almost cult like

[Doodley]

34. I do think that if we went into recession or zero growth, his approval will dip below 40%

[tenderfoot]

37. Yes.

eom

[Digger]

38. Yes,

they will stick with trump because he still hates the same people they hate.

[djg21]

39. Too the contrary

The work requirements generally will apply to able-bodied adults between the ages of 16 and 59 who don’t have dependents. To obtain SNAP benefits, these persons in essence will have to work for 80hrs/month, participate in training, or participate in workfare. https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/work-requirements

First, putting aside inflammatory headlines, is this really unreasonable?

Second, do you really think blue-collar workers in middle America who work one or more jobs to make ends meet will take issue with persons being required to work a minimum of 20 hrs/week or to participate in what amounts to vocational training in order to obtain public benefits?

I hate Trump more than anyone, and find him and virtually all of his policies offensive. But this is a stupid battle to fight, and can hurt us in the battleground states that we need to win to get rid of Trump.

[StarfishSaver]

42. So you think this is fine and, besides, if we speak up for people who are struggling

Last edited Fri Dec 6, 2019, 12:28 AM - Edit history (1)

it could hurt us in the battleground states?

It sounds as if you agree with those who believe that the myth that hundreds of thousands of people who are currently on the program but will get thrown off under these new rules are just moochers who don't want to work but are taking welfare that "hard-working" people have reason to resent them for. You sound like you got your talking points straight from the Republicans songbook.

And I do think that any "blue-collar worker in middle America who work one or more jobs to make ends meet" who doesn't take issue with hundreds of billions of dollars of their tax dollars going into the pockets of a handful of stupidly rich people shouldn't say jack shish about the government spending a few billion dollars to help hundreds of thousands of people desperately trying to keep their heads above water.

And I don't think fighting for people who need help is a "stupid battle to fight." In fact, it's one of the most important issues we can fight for and one of the primary reasons I'm a Democrat.

Obviously, you have different priorities.

[LesterT]

45. Subjective inability to put oneself in another's shoes.

Lot of poor people lack any transportation to meet the requirements, lot of poor people are caring for other poor family members and can't meet the requirements, lot of poor people are disabled but not disabled enough to meet the stringent requirements and hoops to collect the pittance that is SSI ect. Your narrative shows a lack of solidarity with the struggling. The money to fund this program is a pittance compared to the money being drained by the wealthy and the owners of this capitalist plantation.

[StarfishSaver]

46. Thank you

I was worried I might have stumbled onto the wrong discussion board.

[LesterT]

48. The big tent strikes again :)

[djg21]

49. You need to read the ABAWD rules.

The ABAWD work requirements have exceptions which likely would cover the circumstances you describe, and at least for now can be waived in areas with high unemployment rates where work is more difficult to find. The current debate revolves around proposed rules that would limit when waivers of the work requirements can be obtained. https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/fr-120419. The Trump administration certainly is doing its best to minimize the availability of public benefits and this may be despicable. But the ABAWD issue can resonate with independent working voters in midwestern battleground states, and it is an issue that can hurt us. It’s a matter of picking battles and keeping the ammunition dry.

[StarfishSaver]

51. I read the rules

The ones you linked to from the Trump Administration USDA webpage (complete with their own interpretation) and the NEW rules that modify those.

You need to learn about real people's lives and how they need and use these programs and how the new rule will negatively impact their lives - and understand that they're not a bunch of deadbeats who prefer to be on the public dole rather than to work or train for jobs and need to be deprived of food benefits in order to get off their asses and make themselves useful.

Funny how people the way to encourage wealthy people to be more productive is to give them more money that they don't need while the way to make poor people more productive is to snatch food out of their mouths and, while we're at it, tell them what pains in the asses they are.

[LesterT]

55. Who is this "us" you speak of ?

Political opportunism at the expense of more suffering for the struggling is not a plan many of "us" have in mind. You're also deluded about the exceptions. The Medicaid work requirements that are being challenged in the courts are another case in point. An absolute disaster that will be responsible for leaving an enormous amount of struggling people without health care.

[TeamPooka]

43. they will support him because they will think he's taking the benefits away from people of color

then after the election he'll fuck them over big if he wins.

[radius777]

44. yet the farmers are getting 15b in subsidies

for a trade war their hero Trump created.

but of course the poor people surviving on food stamps are the problem.

despicable, but typical GOP hatred of the poor, PoC - plays to their deplorable base - which needs to be taken on, instead of coddled, for their retrograde beliefs.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

58. naturally, most of those subsidies go to corporate farms

[helpisontheway]

47. One of my FB friends is someone I knew in high school...Anyway, she was on the Trump train from the

beginning. However, when she heard he was thinking about cutting food stamps awhile back she flipped the hell out. She started posting negative stuff about Trump. Then I guess when it did not happen she let it go. She does not post anything now..positive or negative..

[cagefreesoylentgreen]

50. The ones in rural areas will

The new food stamp law seems weighted to favor rural aka white communities with its unemployment rate versus urban aka “those people.”

[StarfishSaver]

52. I don't think that's the case

See my post above. While it might hit rural residents less hard, it still will be a blow to them.

[LovingA2andMI]

53. Yes...

If they are members of "The Cult".

[RandySF]

54. Yes

[SKKY]

56. No doubt. It's like the Doobie Brothers once said...

...”What a fool believes, he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away..”

[nuxvomica]

59. It probably won't impact rural counties so much

The work requirements are waived in counties with high unemployment.

[StarfishSaver]

60. Actually, it will affect them badly

Please see my post above.

[RestoreAmerica2020]

61. YES! Unfortunately, they'll be cutting off their nose to spite their face. Sadly millions will be

affected, harmed by this cruel inhumane act. Yet, the FACT is, is that more Caucasian-Americans or whites receive SNAP, food stamps [and or welfare benefits] If trump cuts foodstamp benefits it IS true that he will be hurting his own voter base. Yet, in their ignorance they'll be nust fine with that because they'd rather believe the LIES.

Excerpt provided from Huffington article depicts two LIES that have been, are perpetrated by racist republicans and or RW pundits on RW hate radio/social media/MSM programming for decades--LIES about 1) recipents that receive SNAP/food stamps/welfare 2) which grroup receives the most in SNAP/foodstamps/welfare benefits.


Excerpt [full article at link]
POLITICS
Who Gets Food Stamps? White People, Mostly
By Arthur Delaney and Alissa Scheller/huffington post
02/28/2015 07:30 AM ET; Updated Dec 06, 2017


WASHINGTON -- Gene Alday, a Republican member of the Mississippi state legislature, apologized last week for telling a reporter that all the African-Americans in his hometown of Walls, Mississippi, are unemployed and on food stamps.

"I come from a town where all the blacks are getting food stamps and what I call 'welfare crazy checks,'" Alday said to a reporter for The Clarion-Ledger, a Mississippi newspaper, earlier this month. "They don't work."

Nationally, most of the people who receive benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program are white. According to 2013 data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers the program, 40.2 percent of SNAP recipients are white, 25.7 percent are black, 10.3 percent are Hispanic, 2.1 percent are Asian and 1.2 percent are Native American.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/6771938/amp&ved=2ahUKEwiPpoqY46DmAhXK3J4KHQ9KDZ0QFjAAegQIBhAC&usg=AOvVaw0L5gLJzG4YaxB_SEt6gy4G&cf=1

[RandiFan1290]

62. Yes, rw media will blame Pelosi and Congress. nt

[Cosmocat]

63. Yes

nm

[treestar]

65. Some will. Some won't.

Those who receive food stamps and then don’t might abandon dotard at higher levels. Some are brainwashed so much they will blame liberals or Obama.