John MuesVerified account

, 2019, with Thanksgiving just past and Christmas approaching, the Trump Administration passed a rule via the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), ostensibly supported by U.S. Senator Daines and U.S. Representative Gianforte, that will deepen cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition

Assistance Program (SNAP) – our food stamp program - worsening hunger and food insecurity in Montana and throughout America. Based on analysis, the cuts – however couched in base-appealing, partisan rhetoric – will impact nearly 50,000 Montanans receiving SNAP and 20% of SNAP

recipients nationally. President Trump, Senator Daines, and Representative Gianforte – all of whom grew up wealthy and privileged – have never known the threat of hunger. And that’s ok – in fact, that’s the way we’d like it to be for everyone. Yet, one needn’t personally

experience food insecurity to grasp the morality - including longstanding Christian morality - and talent unlocking mechanism of government food assistance. Either out of a sense of decency or a belief that society runs best when talent is not suppressed by hunger, countless

Americans – rich and poor alike – support government programs, free of the constant threat of budgetary cuts, that tackle food insecurity. Why then, during the holiday season, would such a rule be proposed that will devastate the lives of so many? It’s important to

understand that, in 2017, Senator Daines and Representative Gianforte voted for the Trump tax bill that gave massive tax breaks to America’s wealthiest families and powerful multinational corporations. This resulted in a record $1 Trillion annual federal deficit and is

projected to add trillions more to an already formidable $23 trillion federal debt. Moreover - contrary to widespread belief - the number of jobs created under Trump has lagged that added during the Obama administration (given the same amount of time), many must work multiple

jobs just to put food on the table, and economic inequality is soaring. In addition, publicly-traded corporations used most of the tax cut largess to buy back their own stock or increase their dividends, rather than invest in capital projects and hiring, resulting in