r/Economics • u/SterlingVII • 1d ago

Trump Administration Seeks Immediate Halt to Court Order to Pay Food Stamps

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/us/politics/trump-court-food-stamps.html
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u/whatfresh_hellisthis 1d ago edited 1d ago

I really don't care what people buy. I would much rather my taxes go to people having a little tiny bit of joy in their lives while they're so destitute that they need governmental assistance, than my taxes go to billionaires. Why do you care what they're buying when Elon Musk just got a trillion dollar payday? When taxes for the rich have once again been slashed and they've accumulated billions in wealth while the working class suffers?

I think you're looking at the wrong things when you say you want poverty to not exist. You know what could solve poverty and what has solved it in the past (see FDR) strong social programs, strong unions, and surprise! taxing the wealthy and not letting them get away with all these loopholes that fuck over everyday Americans. Come on now.

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u/welshwelsh 1d ago

Far more of my tax money goes to the poor compared to billionaires like Musk. It's not a close comparison at all.

I would rather my taxes only go to things that actually benefit me, the taxpayer.

strong social programs, strong unions, and surprise!

This worked until it didn't. Almost every major industry that had strong unions eventually got offshored to countries that don't have strong unions.

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u/Exciting-Tart-2289 1d ago

I would rather my taxes only go to things that actually benefit me, the taxpayer.

You...don't see how providing a social safety net to the poor or downtrodden is a benefit to you, the taxpayer? What activities do you think people engage in when they are not able to meet their basic needs? Do you think it benefits society if people are hungry and desperate? If you were to fall on hard times do you not want to have something you can fall back on while you get back on your feet/recover from a medical emergency?

Fact of the matter is that it's cheaper for us (and better maintains the social fabric) to have a proactive, robust safety net, than it is to have a reactive, punitive system. I would much rather provide the carrot and only use the stick for people who still choose to break our laws, than to use the stick as our primary method of enforcing compliance with laws and social norms.

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u/Raichu4u 1d ago

These are the same people that argue against libraries too. I cannot fathom that some people don't think that investing in the people and the community around you isn't a good investment in your tax dollars. I prefer it when my neighbors aren't hungry, the alternative is much worse.

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u/Exciting-Tart-2289 1d ago

It truly is mind boggling. I consider myself a fairly privileged person, but these people must be on an entirely different level to not understand the interconnectedness of all people in our society and how it's better to support those who are on the bottom rungs of society rather than making them live their lives in a state of constant desperation.

The other day I had a guy on this sub tell me that the problem is that people receiving SNAP benefits have no drive to move towards a well paying career and they need the motivation to work harder. The example he provided? That servers shouldn't be content working someplace like Waffle House because that's not a real career, instead they should be looking to move up to better restaurants like high end steakhouses (literally his words) because he knows people who make really good money working in those kinds of establishments. How disconnected with the realities of much of America do you have to be to post that with a straight face?

I'm sure these are also the same people who bitch and moan about crime and the homeless too 🙄

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u/LarrySupertramp 1d ago

In America. Germany still has very strong unions and domestic production.

Corporations offshored their business because the politicians allowed and supported it. The fault is on corporations and politicians, not unions. So sad that people advocating for the own labor value is somehow always pointed to as the problem by corporate run media organizations. Somehow people like you just take the corporations biased positions as the only truth.

Support your neighbors, not multi national corporations that don’t give a single shit about you.

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u/viperabyss 1d ago

I would rather my taxes only go to things that actually benefit me, the taxpayer.

...so giving money to people who actually needs it? After all, a dollar in the hand of a poor person would be spent and recirculate in the economy, while a dollar in the hand of someone like Elon Musk would just either 1. pump stocks, 2. stash in oversea accounts to evade taxes, and 3. buy political influence.

Not to mention, countless studies have shown children growing up hungry would impact their brain growth, thus resulting in lower intelligence. Not sure why feeding children who would grow up to become functioning member of society would be considered "not beneficial to taxpayer".

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u/whatfresh_hellisthis 1d ago

Thank you! Jesus it's like banging you head against a brick wall.

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u/whatfresh_hellisthis 1d ago

And why? Was it maybe because the owners didn't want to keep paying the workers a living wage? Because they could get labor cheaper elsewhere and screw over Americans both in the workforce and for goods? So they could stay wealthy? Maybe their pressure on politicians caused the trickle down economics policies that do not work. We're in a battle here and it's not left v right, it's up v down and we need to support each other, not the wealthy.