Join us on Now We Consume. Take in the knowledge.
Take in the laughs. Indulge in the topics with
us. The Now We Consume podcast will take you
through the parts of your day you normally dread.
Why suffer through the existential crisis of
life alone when you can do it with us? And now
we consume. This is not meant to be a conspiracy
episode or podcast, but we make over some topics
that dance that line like a toddler dances on
their mother's last nerve. This podcast is rated
I. Welcome back to the Now We Consume podcast,
everybody. I'm your host, Pip. And tonight, you're
all locked in here with me. So Gibbs has had
to step away for a little while. He's got a lot
of life coming at him. So he is going to take
a little break and handle all that. So I'm going
to do what I can to kind of keep things going
on my own. And in doing so, I hope you'll all
stick with me while he's gone. And I'll do everything
that I can to keep this from turning into me
yelling into the mic for up to 45 minutes each
week. So if we can agree on that, we can go ahead
and just dive right into it. So tonight, we're
going to try to get a little political. I know
we try to refrain from that, but I saw some stuff
that I thought would be really good to talk about.
The recently passed One Big Beautiful Bill. that
was signed into law just this month by President
Orange Man Bad Trump. It's a massive, comprehensive
bill, and it's pissed off a lot of people. It's
even launched another round of Don Lon Bromance
drama, and it's touching everything from myself
and taxes to HHS and defense spending. But tonight,
I wanted to focus squarely on the impact. on
one of the more critical social safety nets,
the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program,
or SNAP, more commonly known as food stamps.
So first off, for those who might not be entirely
familiar, the Big Beautiful Bill is pretty massive,
like I said. Think of it more as a huge legislative
package that bundles together a lot of the administration's
policies and goals all into one. On the one hand,
it includes things like permanent extensions
of the 2017 tax cuts, which did help a lot of
families on both sides of the aisle. New tax
deductions for tips and overtime, which admittedly
was a good thing for a lot of people. Increased
child tax credits, again, helps a lot of families
right there. And this was all aimed at stimulating
the economy and putting more money back into
people's pockets. On the other side of the ledger,
it enacted some pretty significant changes to
federal spending and social programs. Now, we're
talking substantial new funding for things like
border security, which is also a hot topic, and
I may go back and touch on that in a different
episode. Increased defense spending, which I
know we've already got a pretty bloated defense
budget, but that's maybe another episode. and
a new federally funded private school choice
initiative. Personally, and I think we talked
about that in our education episode, that's a
pretty awesome thing right there. More critically,
though, for our discussion tonight, it also includes
some pretty major reform to programs like Medicaid
and SNAP. Now, the White House has hailed it
as a driver of economic growth. and fiscal responsibility
while the people who are coming out against this
are yelling about the long -term effects on the
budget and the people who would be counted as
the vulnerable population under the big beautiful
bill i might just refer this as to the big bill
we have what are going to be considered the big
changes so we're going to zoom in on the snap
for this right now the big bill fundamentally
reshapes how this program operates. And here
are some of the big ways. It's going to reintroduce
strict work requirements. And this is probably
one of the more massive ones. Back in the day,
and I'm kind of dating myself here, if you were
getting food stamps or what is now known as SNAP,
you actually had to go out and work a certain
number of hours each week to get your assistance.
I want to say it was Clinton that did away with
that. And that was a pretty big move because
it just made it easier to get the help that you
needed and you didn't have to worry about getting
your time in. Because it was always kind of a
joke situation anyways. Now, the bill will require
individuals, including parents with slightly
older children and older adults up to age 64,
will now be expected to work, volunteer, or participate
in training for at least 20 hours a week to keep
their benefits. States will now also have less
flexibility to waive these rules even in high
unemployment areas. The cost shift to the states
for the first time States will have to foot a
portion of the actual food benefit costs, not
just the administrative costs. This will help
pressure the states to reduce or alter their
programs to avoid financial burdens. The benefit
amount limitations, which will increase SNAP
benefits, which will be tied to the thrifty food
plan, will be more restricted, potentially meaning
smaller increases over time. they're going to
introduce utility allowance cuts, which is a
detail that impacts a lot of people. It'll be
changes to how utility expenses are calculated,
which could mean reduced monthly benefits for
hundreds of thousands of households. Now, whether
or not they'll have a different program that'll
come in under something else, I believe is the
plan. They're just getting it out from under
the actual nutritional program is my understanding
of this. Significant funding cuts. Overall, the
Congressional Budget Office estimates the bill
slashes federal funding for SNAP by $186 billion
over the next decade, which would amount to the
largest food assistance cut in history. Now,
again, that's not to say other plans and other
benefit programs will not come in to supplement
some of these cuts, because... We're not just
going to let people starve and go hungry in the
street. I don't think we're that country. But
as of right now, the way this sits, that's the
current plan as it's been signed. I feel other
entities will come in and put things in place
to make sure people have what they need. So we'll
see what happens. It's also important to remember...
that many SNAP recipients also rely on Medicaid.
And with the big bill, it's also bringing cuts
and work requirements to Medicaid, which is also
bringing about a situation where people could
lose both food and health coverage simultaneously,
which would be a pretty big smack in the face
to a lot of people. I'm just going to revert
back to what I just said. I think there's going
to be other programs that come about and make
sure people have what they need. But we're going
to have to wait because this is the very, very
early infancy of this whole program. So the real
world impact and the misuse controversy. And
I titled it like that because I'm sure some of
you have seen a lot of these people that have
been coming out and they've been going on social
media and yelling and griping and crying about.
How they've been going out and using their EBT
cards for getting their nails and their lashes
done or buying purses and paying for trips and
stuff. There was that one lady, I believe she
lives in Michigan. She, from what I remember,
does not have a set of upper teeth. And in the
comments, she always gets drilled for that. She's
got several kids. She makes money off of social
media. She got turned in to the Michigan offices
for assistance and lost a lot of her aid because
she went out and bought a brand new Beamer. But
she's on assistance. So if she's making enough
to go out and buy a brand new Beamer, why is
she on assistance? Those are the cases of misuse.
that the Doge Department were identifying and
trying to stomp out. And I think no matter what
side of the aisle you're on, those are the cases
of abuse and fraud that we can all agree need
to go away and need to stop. Personally, I feel
those are the cases that should be paying back
to the system, but that's just me. Agree or disagree
at will. But we're seeing a lot of fallout from
the changes. A lot of individuals and different
families are reporting a reduction or a complete
loss to their SNAP benefits. This has sparked
a lot of conversation and a lot of controversy.
And like I just said, people have been openly
admitting to misusing their EBT cards for non
-food purchases, luxury beauty services, lashes,
nails, and whatnot. And things like that, these
people coming out on social media and admitting
to this openly. They don't even care. They have
no sense of wrong. It fuels the argument for
tighter control and stricter rules. And that
just highlights the concerns about the program
integrity. But beneath the surface of this, there
are specific instances of misuse, like the lady
up in Michigan, which shows that there's a much
broader and more complex challenge. Many of the
people losing their benefits are indeed able
-bodied, but they face huge barriers to finding
meaningful employment, whether it's where they
live, mental issues, education, general skills.
And that's one of the big points that I wanted
to talk about with this section. So lack of skills
and education, they just simply might not have
foundational literacy, vocational training. or
digital skills needed for today's job market.
There's a good chance that a lot of these people
just slipped through the cracks and got by with
D averages in school. And they are not the people
that can operate even basic registers at McDonald's
or at a grocery store. And if we're going to
be forcing these people into the job market in
order to maintain that 20 hours of minimum work
requirement. We have to find more than just giving
them a broom and expecting them to sweep streets
and sweep floors and whatnot. There's got to
be something more than just basic manual labor.
There are things like caregiving responsibilities.
Many parents or many of these people are parents.
So you can't expect them to just walk away from
their kids and leave them home alone. A lot of
these people are also caregivers for elderly
family members, which means finding consistent
full -time work is incredibly difficult. They
might be on assistance because they're taking
care of disabled children or disabled adults.
A lot of these people may have hidden disabilities
or severe mental challenges. We all know that
there is a severe mental health crisis in America
and, in fact, all over the world. So if they
have undiagnosed conditions or mental health
issues that severely affect their ability to
work consistently, that's something that cannot
go unaddressed. We cannot put people with those
conditions out into the workforce, especially
forced. Not only that, but what about logistics?
Some of these people may not even have reliable
transportation. There's a lot of people that
rely on public transportation. So we may not
be able to expect them to get to or from a place
that we're forcing them to go to unless we're
providing some kind of leeway on transportation.
And that that has to be paid for because if they're
not working now, they probably don't have the
money for the bus, which I know buses aren't
exactly free or cheap. Sometimes we just talked
about that the last episode for the housing or
the cities of the future. there's going to be
a lot of little things to think about because
we're probably going to have to give vouchers
for free transportation if you're in this program.
And that's going to be another cost that's probably
not figured into the bill right now. The job
market for the area that some of these people
that live in, that will be a huge thing. Because
again, do you just give them brooms and tell
them to sweep the streets? Go to a supermarket
and sweep the floor? Or can you actually find
a decent job for these people to work in? The
job market is not hot everywhere. We're still
in a little bit of a job recession. It's not
just a housing. So what do you do? There are
lists of jobs everywhere that can be submitted.
Here in Ohio, we have Ohio Means Jobs that works
with the... unemployment agencies to help people
find work and they work hand in hand. But some
of those jobs actually do require skills and
not all the people who are coming off of the
systems are going to have any of the skills really.
So the big question becomes, how do we support
these people who are now losing critical benefits
without them becoming an even greater drain on
emergency services, local charities, or just
keeping them from falling even deeper into massive
poverty. I mean, we're taking the safety net
out from under them and expecting them to just
trudge forward. I mean, yeah, that's how a lot
of us working folks do it, but we've already
got things in place. This is literally just yanking
the rug out from under them and expecting them
to just figure it out. We can't do that. We have
to figure this out in a way that doesn't make
it worse for everybody involved. So finding a
pathway to self -sufficiency is finding a solution
that allows people to transition, not just out
of poverty, but into flourishing. So this is
where we need to shift our thinking from simply
cutting the benefits to actively building pathways
and helping the people. better themselves. So
if the goal is to get people off of assistance
and into the workforce, we have to find a way
to make robust support systems. Now, what does
that actually look like? Things like targeted
workforce development. So that's going to mean
way more than just a job fair. You're going to
have to sit down with these people, find out
what, if any, skills they actually have, what
kind of educational needs that are going to need
to be met and start getting them reeducated,
retrained, and then actually trained. So you're
going to need vocational training programs that
are going to be linked with local job market
needs. Things like health care support, all of
the trades. Good God. I mean, we know there's
a massive trade deficit, not. but the trade jobs,
there's a big hole there. So a lot of these people
coming off could maybe be encouraged to work
in the trades and even IT basics. I mean, with
all the AI jobs coming out, IT is going to be
an absolutely massive field. And that would be
a huge way to fill some of the smaller jobs that
could be an easier transition for some of these
folks. And crucially, there needs to be, like
I said, basic literacy, digital skills, and even
soft skills. And this is going to be a big one,
like communication. I think we can all agree,
judging by the things that we see and read on
social media and things like TikTok, communication
is a bit lacking from a lot of people out there.
communication, and even basic language skills.
So that would be a really good one to start with.
And then go into math. Doesn't have to be advanced
math. We don't need these people learning trig,
but just the four, you know, addition, subtraction,
multiplication, division. Get them, you know,
eighth, maybe tenth grade level, and that should
be sufficient for a lot of the basic stuff. The
big life barriers. You've got to take a look
at the root causes that prevent work. Things
that prevent access to affordable quality child
care and elder care is an absolute non -negotiable.
We have to invest in transportation solutions
like subsidized passes or community carpooling.
So people who are working together coming off
these programs give them incentives to carpool.
Bus passes, like I said a little bit ago, would
be great, but carpooling would be even better.
Give them a reason to work together. Significantly
increasing access to mental health and substance
abuse services would be an absolute game changer
for so many people as well. A lot of these folks
have gotten addicted to things, and you've got
to get them cleaned up and get them off. That'll
go a long way with a lot of people. The benefit
cliff mitigation. I saw this and I wanted to
put this in here because I think that it's a
big thing. When someone starts earning more,
their benefits often drop sharply, sometimes
making them worse off financially than they were
when they weren't working. So there has to be
a way to phase out the benefits. Or temporary
support to make the transition to self -sufficiency
smoother and more logical. The age old thing
has been, I won't go to work because I'm getting
more on assistance than I will if I go to work
because I'll lose X, Y, Z. Well, if we keep that
coming while people are transitioning off, say
six months, you lose 50%, but you're. earning
enough to make that transition. And then a year
you go down to 25 % or something like that. That
makes it much easier for people to get into their
job, get their life established and get things
smoothed out. You cannot just yank the rug out,
like I had said, from the people who are trying
to actually make this work. It's supposed to
be assistance, not a way of life. That's always
been one of the big gripes that people like me
have had. Community collaboration. Government
cannot do this alone. We need public -private
partnerships. So a lot of businesses and nonprofits
and even some of the community colleges have
to come in together and find training programs
and job placements. So you work with the people
who are going through these education programs
and you find people who would be a good fit in
some of the jobs and some of the... different
businesses that are coming up and about. If you
need someone who can do a low end job that isn't
going to pay a whole lot, work with these people
coming up who just need something to put on a
resume. Maybe it's only going to be a six month
hire. Maybe it's going to be a 12 month deal.
It's a win win for both people. If it's not going
to be anything that's like high intensive training,
but you just need a body for a while and these
people are going to get. extra benefits, as well
as job training, it can be done. You can work
together with it. Integrated services. Think
about like a hub where someone can go to get
job training, help with childcare and mental
health support all in one place. And I want to
kind of go off on a little tangent here. One
thing that was put into the bill was Something
about, and I didn't get it because when I was
doing the research, I totally overlooked this.
There was a business, I want to say subsidy,
to provide money to businesses to help with child
care costs. And it was not insignificant. I want
to say it was something like over a half a million
dollars for some level. And then I think it went
up. I'll have to look into this for you guys.
But that means. That some businesses can now
provide things like on -site childcare for a
lot of people and that they can get covered for
it and reimbursed for it and tax breaks for it,
which would eliminate a lot of overhead and a
lot of bills for so many people. If more places
do this, that then becomes a huge benefit to
working there. So that's one thing that a lot
of people, and I don't think many people know
that that's in the bill, but that needs to be
pushed and that needs to be championed and that
needs to be yelled about. Hey, this benefit is
out there. Let's look into it. Let's find people
to do this. Let's use these subsidies to renovate
these offices into a child center and people
can bring their kids to work. That's like. 80
% of the reasons that people have to call out
half the time is because their kids are sick
or they got sick from their kids. If you eliminate
that hurdle, you will do so much more for so
many people. I guarantee it. So there's my little
side tangent and rant. But yeah, the hub with
the child care and the mental health service
is all in one. Rather than having to navigate
the big maze of different agencies, if they're
going to do this, they have to have it all under
one roof. Health and Human Services has to be
reorganized to actually be Health and Human Services.
It can't be 50 different buildings spread out
across the city so that you go to this building
for one thing and that building for another,
and then this building across town for the other
thing. It's got to be a one -stop shop. And if
it can't be that, then this whole thing cannot
be successful. Now, I'm just one weird guy in
a basement trying to tell all this. I don't have
all the answers. I want to hear from you guys.
What are some of the things that you're seeing
out and about? What are you hearing? Because
this has set a lot of big things in motion with
significant changes. That is like I've talked
about tonight. especially for those relying on
food assistance and Medicare and Medicaid. So
the challenge now is to ensure that while everything
is being redone, the overall reach of the program
is to aim for fiscal responsibility and program
integrity. But we also have to provide the necessary
tools and support for every American to thrive.
This is not about... just cutting the lifeline,
but it's about building a bridge and helping
people do better themselves. And that, ladies
and gentlemen, brings me to the end of my rant
for this evening. I was trying to stretch it
out a little bit, but I kind of got through everything
because, well, I didn't have Gibbs to go back
and forth with. So that was not as long as I
intended, but well, that's what I told her. But
I hope you've enjoyed our time together. I hope
that you still have some hair left on your head
because this topic can go much further down the
foxhole, but that's where you got to come in.
Let me know your thoughts. I'm hoping that Gibbs
is going to weigh in on this episode. So we'll
be looking forward to that. And then we can have
a big discussion on all of that. Hopefully that'll
be on discord or hopefully he'll do something
to where, We can kind of go back and forth, maybe
on YouTube or something. But that's the wonderful
thing about this, because that's how this whole
digital wonderland works. But anyways, thank
you guys for hanging out with me tonight. And
I love each and every one of you. And as always,
I'll see you guys again next time.